E-Book - Mahatma Gandhi

Gandhi’s Pancha Mahavrat… 63in London. However, a close study of the Hind Swaraj wouldreveal that his plea for non-violent resistance was based moreon practical grounds rather than purely on ideological ones.Perhaps, the final settlement of the Indian issue in 1914,proved another milestone in the evolution of his faith in nonviolence.He found in it a living testimony to the efficacy andeffectiveness of non-violence. His relocation to India during1915 and founding of the Satyagraha Ashram marked anotherturning point in the evolution of his faith in non-violence. Fromthat point onwards, he started taking it more of a creed ratherthan mere policy matter.Champaran, Kheda and Ahmedabad Mill workers’Satyagraha were Gandhi’s major experiments in non-viloentaction. Rowlatt Satyagraha (1919) was the first majorexperiment at the national level. And its quick withdrawal inthe face of major eruption of violence amply demonstrated hisfaith in non-violence. It was in the course of the NoncooperationMovement that he wrote a long piece ‘TheDoctrine of Sword’ in which he laid unprecedented emphasison what he called ‘ahimsa of the brave’ and even went to theextent of saying that faced with an unenviable choice, he wouldprefer violence to cowardice. Subsequently, he wrote in aresounding tone:“I would rather have India resort to arms in order to defendher honour that she should be in a cowardly manner become orremain a helpless witness to her own dishonour. 14He reached another milestone on the road of ahimsa, whenhe translated and wrote a brief commentary on the BhagavadGita in which he found a scriptural validation for his theory ofnon-violence. And the raid on the Dharasana salt depot in 1930,amply demonstrated the power of the non-violence of the bravewhen his followers faced unprecedented human brutalities