E-Book - Mahatma Gandhi

225 Contextualising Gandhian ThoughtMahatma and declared that the toiler was the owner of theinstrument of production; that all titles would be scrutinisedand anything that was in conflict with the interest of the massesforfeited, with or without compensation. He warned that thechoice before the rich was between voluntary surrender ofriches and violent overthrow, destruction and ruin. He forecast:"I see coming the day of the rule of the poor, whether that rulebe through the force of arms or non-violence." Surely, then hecannot be accused of dissembling. To those who twitted him onhis friendship with the rich, he said: "I have never concealedthe fact that I am a friend of everybody … irrespective of caste,colour or persuasion." 96 “They (the rich) have no hold on me,and I can shed them at a moment's notice, if the interests of themasses demand it." 97The second point is that trusteeship would turn out to benothing but the vision of a society in which the rich arecharitable so that the peer can remain weak. The questionwhether trusteeship is only charitableness and philanthropy hasbeen examined in an earlier paragraph. One need only add thatto make a proper assessment of trusteeship one should not lookat it in abstraction, but as part of the dynamics of a non-violentrevolution that aims at abolishing exploitation, and propertyand wealth that lead to exploitation and inequality.This takes us to the third point that the theory demandeda change of heart, and in the real world such a revolution isunlikely. The meaning of a change of heart and thecircumstances that Gandhi wanted to create for a 'change ofheart' have been discussed in earlier paragraphs. He did notdepend merely on verbal persuasion or appeal, but onSatyagraha, the main weapon that he forged and used withspectacular effect for a change of heart or for progressive shiftsin the positions of his adversary that ultimately brought him(the adversary) closer and closer to the baseline that Gandhi