E-Book - Mahatma Gandhi

124 Contextualising Gandhian ThoughtSatyagraha (Satyagrahi action) that Gandhi used against theBritish were meant only for the foreigner or the ruler who hadno electoral support. These programmes of action includedpicketing, boycott, non-cooperation, individual and mass civildisobedience, no-tax campaigns, etc. The burning of foreigncloth was one such programme, and it brought forth strongpublic disapproval even from illustrious and sympatheticIndians like the poet Rabindranath Tagore. One of Gandhi'sclosest aides, C. F. Andrews, was one of those whoremonstrated that this programme might incite race-hatred andviolence. Gandhi's reply clearly asserts that everyone of theprogrammes he proposed against the foreign ruler was such hecould unhesitatingly use against members of his own family ornation, "I remain just as convinced as ever of the necessity ofburning. There is no emphasis in the process of race-feeling. Icould have done precisely the same thing in the sacred andselect family or friendly circles. In all I do or advise, theinfallible test I apply is, whether the particular action will holdgood in regard to the dearest and nearest. The teaching of thefaith I hold dear is unmistakable and unequivocal in the matter.I must be the same to friend and foe. And it is this convictionwhich makes me sure of so many of my acts which often puzzlefriends." 10The fact that Gandhi looked upon Satyagraha as thesovereign and universally applicable method of seeking justiceis borne out by his identifying it as the remedy open (1) topeople if a Trustee acted against the spirit of Trusteeship; (2) toworkers to secure from the employer; (3) to tillers to securejustice from landowners. None of these is a situation that toforeign rule or a society without an elected government. In fact,Gandhi reserved a permanent place for Satyagraha in his idealvillage republic. "Non-violence with its technique ofSatyagraha and non-cooperation will be the sanction of thevillage community." 11 This should make it clear that Gandhi