E-Book - Mahatma Gandhi

217 Contextualising Gandhian Thoughtstatutory framework, while in the case of non-materialpossessions that generate power and wealth, the primarysafeguard will lie in the change to the attitudes of trusteeship.What if the Trustee fails to live up to these criteria?There are two remedies,—Satyagraha, and action by the State.If the trustee fails to function as a real trustee, "not nominaltrustee", the State would be justified in taking away theproperty. "We shall have to dispossess them of theirpossessions through the State with the minimum exercise ofviolence." 80 “... But the fear is always there that the State mayuse too much violence against those who differ from it." 81What then was the role that Gandhi visualised for theState, and the laws of the State, in relation to trusteeship?Gandhi visualised that trusteeship would become a legalisedinstitution. In fact, he hoped that it would be a gift from Indiato the world. The State would give statutory recognition to theinstitution of trusteeship; determine the rate of commission forthe trustees; oversee the fulfillment of the conditions oftrusteeship; regulate and approve the appointment of asuccessor trustee if the need arises; and dispossess the personwho, after having accepted trusteeship, fails to act inaccordance with the tenets of trusteeship. Even in cases wherean inherited possession is used or disposed of against theinterest of society, the State will be justified in depriving theproprietor or owner of his possessions.The functions that have been assigned to the State doraise the question of the nature of the State in a nonviolentsociety and the sanctions that such a State may use. One maynot discuss the question in detail here, since it relates to thelarger question of Gandhi's attitude to the State.Gandhi did not hold that the institution of trusteeship