E-Book - Mahatma Gandhi

Gandhi’s Philosophy of Swadeshi 244next door neighbour to the exclusion of any other. Thecondition that he had already mentioned was that the neighbourthus served had in his turn to serve his own neighbour. In thissense, Swadeshi was never exclusive. It recognised thescientific limitation of human capacity for service." 4The third question we raised was whether Gandhi'sSwadeshi had an element of chauvinism or hatred for theforeigner. Let us look at Gandhi's reply: "I have never been anadvocate of prohibition of all things foreign because they areforeign. My economic creed is a complete taboo in respect ofall foreign commodities whose importation is likely to proveharmful to our indigenous interest. This means that we may notin any circumstance import a commodity that can be adequatelysupplied from our own country ... ... ... In other words, I wouldnot countenance the boycott of a single foreign article out of illwillor a feeling of hatred." 5 Further, "A true votary ofSwadeshi will not be actuated by antagonism towards anybodyon earth. Swadeshi is not a cult of hatred. It is a doctrine ofselfless service, that has its roots in the purest Ahimsa, i.e.Love." 6 In the economic field, our activities are orientedtowards the production and consumption of goods and servicesfor the satisfaction of our wants. Let us see how Gandhi'sphilosophy applies to both these fields. In production, one willhave to give priority to the utilisation or employment of localresources in materials and man-power; in consumption too onewill have to give priority to what is manufactured locally. Inboth cases, the arguments that are put forward againstaccording priority to the neighbour or local manpower andresources, and in the field of consumption, to local employee isincompetent, he is inadequately equipped in skills; histechnology is inferior, and therefore, the quality of his productscan not compare with the quality of the goods producedelsewhere, generally in other countries. The second argument isthat indigenous products are costlier, more expensive. If we