As part of a series of lectures on nationalism being imparted by prominent scholars at Jawaharlal Nehru University, historian Tanika Sarkar spoke of Mahatma Gandhi’s views on the nation on Thursday.
Speaking to a crowd of 200, many of whom sat on the ground with their notebooks and pens, outside the administration block, Ms. Sarkar explained Gandhiji’s nation by juxtaposing it with that of V.D. Savarkar, the powerful ideologue of Hindutva. For Savarkar, Ms. Sarkar said: “Perpetual antagonism was necessary as it creates and consolidates national identity and nothing unites a nation more than the presence of a common enemy. The nation, therefore, needs an enemy.” The crowd, which included students and teachers, was quick to derive analogies from this with the behaviour of the ruling government. Gandhiji, on the other hand, had two principles ruling his idea of the nation — trusteeship and ramrajya — she added while insisting that Gandhiji was “uncompromisingly secular” and that he practised Hinduism without forcing it on others.
However, things changed and his vision unravelled tragically towards the end of his life. “His faith in trusteeship was corroded in the dark days of 1946 when he travelled to the villages of Bengal, trying with his frail body to stop the communal clashes emerging there. It was then that he realised that inequalities were mapped onto communal divisions. But he was big enough to give up or admit failure on some of his most cherished visions,” she added.
Speaking on Gandhiji’s notion of caste, she added, for him caste was an essential part of dharma. The audience was taken by surprise when she pointed out Dr. Ambedkar’s first impression on Gandhiji by saying: “Initially, Gandhi took Ambedkar as an upper caste person because of his educational achievements and social confidence. He wasn’t the typical abject Dalit.” His first comments were somewhat patronising as she added, quoting Gandhiji’s own words on Ambedkar, that: “He has received a liberal education. He has more talents than an average educated Indian. His exterior is clean though his interior is a mystery.”
Reacting to Ms. Sarkar’s speech, Rachita Tyagi, who came from Delhi University, said: “For me the biggest takeaway is the fact that Gandhiji’s nation was capable of recognising its own contradictions and oppressions and feel guilty about them. This capacity of introspection for recognising evil within itself was the most important thing about Gandhiji’s nation.”
Mired by controversy over some of its students organising a pro-Afzal Guru event and raising “anti-national” slogans, the university has been conducting ‘ nationalism’ sessions since February 17. So far prominent faces like Gopal Guru, Ari Sitas, G Arunima, Nivedita Menon and Ayesha Kidwai have spoken on various facets of nationalism.
