SAHMAT PROGRAMME ON 75TH ANNIVERSARY OF DANDI MARCH

Gandhi Made Indians Believe That They 

Could Challenge Colonial Power

Rajendra Sharma

GANDHI’s biggest role was to make the Indians believe that they could challenge the colonial power. All the campaigns launched by Gandhi, among which Dandi March has its own importance, played precisely this role. A number of renowned historians, intellectuals, artistes and activists, who assembled in the national capital on March 12, insisted on viewing Gandhi from this angle, underlining in the process the need of liberation from imperialist domination in today’s context.

They had assembled for a programme organised by the Safdar Hashmi Memorial Trust (SAHMAT) and to ponder over the relevance of the Dandi March, and of Gandhi in general.

At the seminar organised on the occasion, both the speakers stressed the role of Gandhi in breaking asunder the colonial stranglehold. Renowned historian Bipan Chandra said, like an expert general, Gandhi had the tactic of attacking the very core of power in his war against the British regime. Gandhi did so by eliminating two conceptions from the public psyche. The first conception was that the British rule was a benevolent, mai-baap kind of rule. The second conception was that the British rule was too powerful to be challenged. He reminded that when Gandhi said India could wrest her independence in a year provided she wanted it, he was aiming precisely to the rid the Indian mind from the imperialist intellectual dominance.

The other speaker at the seminar was renowned economist Prabhat Patnaik who referred to Franz Fannon’s celebrated work The Wretched of the Earth to underline the self-liberation through a negation of hegemonistic power. He said Gandhi’s significance lies precisely in this very all-round attack that wrought emancipation from the colonial consciousness.

The programme started with the presentation by Vidya Shah of Gandhi’s favourite bhajan beginning Vaishnav jan to tene kahiye. Jamia Millia vice chancellor Professor Mushirul Hasan released the book Dhundale Padchinh (Dim Footsteps) written by well known journalist, Madhukar Upadhyaya, who was a participant in the Dandi March. Professor Hasan himself presided over this function. A poster designed by Parthiv Shah on the 75th anniversary of the march was also released by known Gandhian painter, Hakkubhai Shah. SAHMAT is the publisher of the book as well as the poster.

Underlining the importance of the march, Professor Bipan Chandra reminded that Gandhi had chosen salt for his satyagrah –– a thing that is among the bare minimum necessities, only after water in importance. It was therefore natural that the salt satyagrah appealed to a very large part of the population. He also reminded that once the movement started, people themselves made innovations for agitation while preparing salt. Violation of the salt law did not remain confined to the coastal areas alone. The law was violated by boiling the salty water in public places. Nor was salt law the only law to be violated; people defied the British rule in several ways. There were agitations against the ban on cattle grazing in forests, against chaukidari, against land revenue, against liquor, for protection and hoisting of the national flag, and so on. The movement took numerous forms but the aim was one — to challenge the British power.

Professor Chandra also underlined how Gandhi’s agitations were well-organised. An interesting aspect of his movements was that he would raise maximum demands in the beginning and these were supported by some people. Then he would gradually scale down his demands, and the range of his supporters would grow correspondingly. In the end, he would come down so much that even the supporters of the British would think that their non-acceptance would be an unjustified adamance. Professor Chandra also reminded how Gandhi recognised the role of the Left in weakening the British dominance. To quote an example, he even went to Meerut to meet the Meerut conspiracy case prisoners and solicit their support. Gandhi had even backed Nehru for Congress presidentship even though Nehru was known as Left sympathiser. Professor Chandra also drew attention to the fact that anti-untouchability was a plank of the Dandi March and that women joined the agitation in large numbers. The speaker also underlined that Gandhi’s agitations were not for political independence alone; rather both the economic and political aspects of emancipation were intertwined therein.

Professor Prabhat Patnaik stressed the need to view the salt agitation not only as a very successful tactic but also as a negation of the whole colonial structure. He underlined how Gandhi negated imperialism not only in political but also in economic and ethical terms. In this context, the speaker urged that we must have a fresh look at Gandhi’s economic views. He said Gandhi’s political philosophy was based on the essential and important necessity of ensuring full employment for the people. He said lack of means of production were one of the reasons for unemployment. Gandhi wanted to remove it through simple means of production like charkha and takli. Lack of demand was another cause of unemployment. Gandhi sought its solution in demand creation through employment for the maximum number of people. A third reason of unemployment was the displacement of indigenous goods by foreign products. Gandhi wanted to solve it through a bonfire of foreign goods. Professor Patnaik reminded that Gandhi’s standpoint was diametrically opposite to that of our present day rulers who are out to make “openness” an aim in itself. Later, during the discussion, Professor Prabhat Patnaik said in reply to a question that if our rulers swear by Gandhi but are following a totally opposite economic path, it becomes all the more necessary for us to remind them what Gandhi’s path was.

Speaking from the chair, Professor Mushirul Hasan said the Dandi March brought Gandhi to the centre of the national movement. It sparked unprecedented protest waves among the people who gave it their endorsement, of a different kind, in the 1937 provincial elections. Insisting on debates on Gandhi, Professor Hasan also raised the issue of how the new generations could be linked to Gandhi.