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'''Gandhism''' (or '''Gandhi-ism''') is an informal reference to the core inspiration and philosophy of [[Mahatma Gandhi]]. It is a body of ideas and principles that best describe not only the inspiration, vision and the life work of Mohandas K. Gandhi, but what Gandhi's ideas, words and actions meant to common Indians and human beings around the world, and how they used them for guidance as they built their own future. Gandhism also permeates into the realm of the individual human being, non-political and non-social.


Under the heading of Gandhism, this article endeavors to discuss the effect of the work and teachings of Mahatma Gandhi, how it has influenced nations and peoples, and how the understanding of what it is has gone beyond Gandhi, for good and ill.

==''Satya'': Definition and Direction of Gandhism==

Gandhi himself famously stated that ''"I have nothing new to teach the World. Truth and Non-violence are as old as the hills." Certainly no element of Gandhism is entirely Gandhi's original thinking.

Gandhi developed his vision, thought and way of life by his constant experimenting with truth, by making painful errors during his childhood and adolescence, but by having the strength to repent and correct. All 78 years of Gandhi's life, from his childhood and adolescent errors and indulgences, his penances for them, to his adulthood convictions and sacrifices, compose the defining elements of Gandhism.

The goals of different philosophies vary: socialism desires an egalitarian economic and political system; pacifism shall tolerate no war under any circumstances; Buddhism seeks salvation.

The pivotal and defining element of Gandhism is [[Satya]], simply, [[Truth]]. Truth to Gandhi, and so to his followers must pervade all considerations of politics, ego, society and convention. Gandhi was neither a pacifist, socialist or on any definable spectrum of politics. He simply adhered to the pure existing facts of life, otherwise known as the true state of things, to make his decisions.

The Truth however is the most difficult value to imbibe and practice for most human beings, and Gandhi's life is evidence and inspiration that it can be done. Gandhi's commitment to non-violence, human freedom, equality and justice arose from the truths of life, after careful personal examination.

Truth is interpreted subjectively. Thus Gandhism as a body does not demand that its adherents agree to Gandhi's own principles to the letter, but essentially in spirit. If one honestly believes that violence is sometimes unavoidable, necessary and cleansing of an immoral situation, it would only be being ''truthful'' to believe in it. Being ''truthful'' is the spirit of Gandhism.

It should be noted that even the [[Indian Independence Movement]] was not exempt from Gandhi's commitment to Truth.

When Gandhi returned to India amidst [[World War I]], he said he would have supported the British in the war. It would have been wrong, according to Gandhi, to demand equal rights for Indians in the Empire, and not contribute to its defence.

Gandhi stopped all nationwide civil resistance in 1922 upon the ugly [[Chauri Chaura]] incident. He would forsake political independence for truth - the reality here that Indians should not become murderers and commit the very evils they were accusing the British of perpetrating in India.

''The Truth is far more powerful than any weapon of mass destruction''


==His Greatest Gifts==

Since 1918, Gandhism became a uniting force for millions of Indians, a defining element of [[Indian Nationalism]] and a basic description of what unites the diverse demographics and cultures of [[India]].

India's independence was not won by Gandhi alone, but by the work and sacrifice of 100 million Indians over three to four generations. Gandhi himself stated that "truth and non-violence are as old as the hills" and that he had taught nothing new to the world. Mahatma Gandhi's biggest contributions to India and the world were:

==The Universal Weapon==

Gandhi was a simple, frail and timid-looking man. He had not been a distinguished student or great professional. Yet he led a rebellion of 300 million people from the front and tore down the British Empire. Gandhi gave the universal weapon of Satyagraha to ordinary human beings to fight injustice, tyranny and oppression. It did not require men becoming armed militants and leading the lives of the hunted. It instead gave voice and strength to the poorest farmers, the most downtrodden of a huge society, the youngest of men and women and the most timid housewife. Gandhi helped a silent nation that had suffered through 1,000 years of tyranny, oppression and invasion, to stand up for themselves, their beliefs and way of life, and tear down a world-wide empire.

==The Making of a Nation==

Before Gandhi, the Congress Party itself had been segregated by caste and ethnicity. Language differences and religious antagonism made it a body of talk, not action or results. It claimed to represent a country united only in poverty and ignorance. Elitist lawyers from Delhi and Mumbai made up its office-bearers, speakers and leaders.

In reality, India had not been united since Emperor Ashoka over 1,500 years ago. It had seen over 1,000 years of oppression, tyranny and invasion, new rulers coming and going. None had touched or changed the lives of the people.

The Rebellion of 1857 touched something deep in many common Indians, but failed to do anything more. It was Gandhi who created the first-ever nationwide organization truly representative of the common Indians. It contained men and women of all religions, 18 different language groups and from the poorest villages of the farthest corners of the Indian subcontinent. And all these Indians, numbering in the tens of millions, were united in a nationwide struggle for something called freedom and democracy.

In his famous attire of loincloth and shawl, Gandhi instantly struck a chord with the hundreds of millions of people who thought he was one of them. He talked in the native language, inspiring the comman man to feel he belonged to something called a nation.

Gandhi made this Indian National Congress fight for the causes of common man: he led the fights against poverty, alcoholism, illiteracy, disease while simultaneously fighting the British. He knew there could be no freedom when a system of slavery remained a part of Hindu society, called untouchability. He gave voice to Muslim and Hindu women, and brought Muslims and Hindus together for the first time in history in a peaceful and righteous common cause. And above all, he made them work together for something common, and develop a common sense of identity and brotherhood.

Gandhi's all-cultures, egalitarian, democratic organization laid the foundation for a nation that would genuinely be free, and where all religions, ethnic and linguistic groups would have genuine respect, love and brotherhood for one another.

It may be too much to say he made a nation, for India is as timeless and boundless as the whole world itself. But he did something, without which there would be no one country but 500, and no real freedom for the so-called common Indian. All 350 million of them.



==In Nehru's India: Economics, Defense and Secularism==
Gandhi's death in 1948 left a nascent, independent [[India]] devastated. Hundreds of millions of people thirsted for the security and leadership which the little old man inspired. And though India was finally independent, the country's battles against poverty, illiteracy, discrimination, violence and disease were only beginning.

The country's young, energetic Prime Minister, [[Jawaharlal Nehru]], a student of Gandhi, was given this task of leadership. Nehru always claimed his work through 17 years of premiership to have been inspired by Gandhi's vision for India.

Nehru was a sympathizer of socialist thought and beliefs. But he did not agree with [[Lenin]], [[Mao Zedong]] and [[Stalin]] in their interpretations of inevitable class warfare. Although land reform was one of his first priorities, distributing land to tens of millions of landless, poor farmers, no indiscriminate seizures of property or victimization took place. Famous was the '''Bhoodan''' movement of the 1950s, where social workers (famously the socialist [[Jaya Prakash Narayan]]) encouraged landlords and capitalists to give land to landless farmers by their own free will, out of goodwill for their poorer, fellow Indians, and for the sake of the country's progress and social harmony. This system eradicated the force, violence and hate-filled propaganda of the Communists in the [[USSR]] and [[China]], even though progress, while significant, was slow as well.

Nehru also embraced an internationalist foreign policy committed to peaceful diplomacy as the means of resolving disputes between nations. He was a great, early champion of the [[United Nations]], and a founding leader of the [[Non-Aligned Movement]], which grew to over 120 member nations across [[Asia]] and [[Africa]], who did not want the polarization and militarization of the US-USSR [[Cold War]].

Inspired by Gandhi and the [[Indian Independence Movement]] was Nehru's strong opposition to continuing British and French imperialism in parts of Asia and Africa. Nehru backed [[Julius Nyerere]] of [[Tanzania]] and [[Ben Bala]] of [[Algeria]] in their respective struggles for independence.

However, Nehru's interpretations of Gandhi's teachings were considerably more deeply influenced by his own instincts and personal adherence to [[fabian socialism]], an idealist outlook of the world. Nehru was so committed to peaceful dialogue to resolve disputes, he neglected India's defense services. When [[China]] incursed into Indian territory in [[Kashmir]] and the Northeast, Nehru did not respond by taking corrective military action to secure the nation's borders. He neglected the advice of his own Ministers and commanders, and did not prepare a practical defensive strategy to a possible Chinese invasion. The latter occurred in September 1962, precipitating in the [[Sino-Indian War]]. Declaring a ceasefire after a few weeks, China withdrew from the northeastern states to the international boundary, the disputed [[McMahon Line]], but did not relinquish their seizures in Kashmir, which to this day are subject of conflict and dispute. India's perceived military weakness was noted by its other rival, [[Pakistan]], and led to the [[1965 Indo-Pak War]] over Kashmir.

Nehru was also hypocritical in his implementation of an anti-colonial foreign policy. Although only too willing to condemn the [[United Kingdom]] and [[France]] and [[Israel]] for the 1956 invasion of the [[Suez Canal]], he chose not to condemn the USSR's invasion of [[Hungary]] in 1957-58 to repress a pro-democracy revolt. Although personally committed to neutrality, Nehru's socialist ambitions drew him closer to the USSR, and more critical of the [[United States]].

In the relations between Hindus and Muslims, Nehru was all too willing to attack the discrimination of lower caste Hindus and women, but unwilling to attack the same amongst Muslims. Gandhi's sacrifices in ensuring that Muslims were free and protected in India despite the savages of partition and the creation of [[Pakistan]] were translated by Nehru all too willingly as viewing the [[Hindu]] majority as eternally threatening Muslim rights. Not only Hindu society was heavily criticized, nothing was offered to Muslim discrimination of women, and minority vote bank politics which increased the importance of Muslims beyond what is justifiable in a system calling for equality of all. If Muslims make 10% of the population, they cannot be viewed at parity with 82% majority Hindus. True, each individual is equal and free, but the will of a minority cannot subjugate that of the majority of Indians.

In 1986, Nehru's own grandson [[Rajiv Gandhi]], as Prime Minister led his party in passing an amendment to the Constitution, making it mandatory for Muslim women applying for divorce to be tried under Islamic law, not the nation's civil code. As a result, [[Shah Bano]], a Muslim woman who had fled her oppressive husband, received no [[alimony]] and was castigated by conservative Muslim jurists. Rajiv Gandhi pushed through this law for "minority rights" despite the [[Supreme Court of India]] itself calling for the equal treatment under law for all women. Such blatant hyprocisy and appeasement could allow Muslims to construct a [[Taliban]]-style system for their own community, while Hindus must bear the burdens of keeping India secular. And further more, a separate legal system would only ensure a further separation of the two communities within one nation, just as the advocates of [[Pakistan]] wanted a separate nation for Muslims, a demand deeply opposed by Gandhi and Nehru.

==Inspiring Struggle for Freedom==
Gandhi's deep commitment and disciplined belief in non-violent civil disobedience as a way to oppose tyranny, oppression and injustice was shared by many contemporary leaders of nations, including Dr. [[Martin Luther King Jr.]] of the [[United States]], [[Julius Nyerere]] of [[Tanzania]], [[Nelson Mandela]] and [[Steve Biko]] of [[South Africa]], [[Lech Walesa]] of [[Poland]] and [[Aung San Suu Kyi]] of [[Myanmar]].

Gandhi's early life work in [[South Africa]] between the years 1910 and 1915, for the rights of colored peoples oppressed by the racist, white-dominated South African regime inspired the later work of [[Nelson Mandela]] and the [[African National Congress]]. Since the 1950s, the ANC organized non-violent civil disobedience akin to the [[Indian National Congress]] of Gandhi during the [[Indian Independence Movement]]. Determined ANC activists braved the sticks and bullets of the police, water-hoses, tear gas and mad dogs to break the back of tyranny, racism and oppression in South Africa, all without retaliating despite the brutality. Many, especially Mandela, languished for decades in jail, while the world outside was divided in its effort to remove [[apartheid]] from South Africa. When Mandela and the ANC finally won, and when the first universal, free elections were held in South Africa and Mandela became President, he made a special visit to [[India]] and publicly honored Gandhi as the man who inspired the freedom struggle of black South Africans. Statues of Gandhi have been erected in [[Natal]], [[Pretoria]] and [[Johannesburg]] and South Africans do not hesitate to honor his importance to their revolution.

Dr. Martin Luther King, leader of the [[American Civil Rights Movement]] seeking the liberation of African Americans from racial segregation in the American South, and also the terrible economic and social injustice and political disenfranchisement, traveled to India in 1962 and Nehru met him personally. The two discussed Gandhi's teachings, and the methodology of organizing peaceful resistance. The terribly graphic imagery of determined Black protestors being hounded by police, beaten and brutalized, evoked universal admiration for Dr. King and the protestors across America and the world, and precipitated in the [[1964 Civil Rights Act]] and the [[1965 Voting Rights Act]]. In an unholy coincidence, Dr. King was assassinated by a white fanatic in 1968, even as Gandhi was killed in 1948 by a Hindu extremist.

The non-violent [[Solidarity]] movement of [[Lech Walesa]] of [[Poland]] overthrew a Soviet-backed communist government after two decades of peaceful resistance and strikes, in 1989, beginning the downfall of the Soviet Communist empire. Peaceful resistance had been offered by many over 50 years in Soviet-occupied countries, but the Communist empire was finally broken not merely by U.S. economic and military power, but also an deep desire for freedom shared by the peoples of [[Poland]], [[Hungary]], [[East Germany]], [[Czechoslovakia]], [[Lithuania]], [[Latvia]], [[Estonia]], [[Bulgaria]], [[Hungary]] and [[Romania]].

To this day Gandhi evokes fiery passion for freedom. Myanmar's [[Aung San Suu Kyi]], a small young woman, remains under house arrest, and her [[National League for Democracy]] suppressed in their non-violent quest for democracy and freedom in military-controlled [[Myanmar]]. This struggle was inaugurated when the military dismissed the results of the 1991 democratic elections and imposed harsh military rule. It is said that more than 5 million Burmese men, women and children are being used as slave labor. And it should be noted that despite provoking outrage around the world, [[India]], Gandhi's own nation, has worked for normal relations and cooperation with the regime, instead of actively supporting Aung San Suu Kyi and the NLD.

==For World Peace==
Gandhi is often quoted for his total belief in non-violence, even when faced by militarist tyrants like [[Adolf Hitler]] and [[Benito Mussolini]]. Gandhi believed that non-violent civil resistance could overcome the brutal armies of Nazi Germany, if the people adopted this method whole-heartedly.

Gandhi was often quoted by Americans opposed to the [[Vietnam War]] in the 1960s and 1970s. [[Pacifist]]s who have opposed even wars to liberate countries and defeat dictators cite the beliefs of Gandhi in [[Pacifism]].

Gandhi is one of the heroes of [[American liberalism]] and pacifism in [[Europe]], including the pacifists and leftists who opposed the [[Trident]] missile deployment by [[NATO]] countries in the 1980s. While NATO and the United States argued that Trident as necessary as a preventive deterrent, pacifists were convinced that the trident would only make nuclear conflict inevitable.

==The Gandhism of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi==

Gandhism draws heavily from world religions. [[Hinduism]] (especially [[Vaishnavism]]), [[Jainism]] and [[Buddhism]], religions of [[India]] played a major role in Gandhi's education and daily life, and so did the teachings of saints like [[Kabir]], [[Swami Vivekananda]], [[Sai Baba]] and the [[Buddha]].

Gandhi was also deeply influenced by teachings of [[Christian anarchism]] and [[Islam]]. But despite an almost universal religious grounding, Gandhi did not hesitate to criticize these very systems and their adherents for allowing disharmony, violence and discrimination pollute their purity.

"I have nothing new to teach the world. Truth and non-violence are as old as the hills" - Mahatma Gandhi.

The works of political thinkers and literary figures like [[Henry David Thoreau]] and [[Leo Tolstoy]] shape and influence political Gandhism.

===Nonviolence===
The concept of nonviolence (ahimsa) and nonresistance has a long history in Indian religious thought and has had many revivals in Hindu, Buddhist, Jain and Christian contexts. Gandhi explains his philosophy and way of life in his autobiography The Story of My Experiments with Truth. He was quoted with saying:

"What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans, and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty and democracy?"
"An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind".
"There are many causes that I am prepared to die for but no causes that I am prepared to kill for".
In applying these principles, Gandhi did not balk from taking them to their most logical extremes. In 1940, when invasion of the British Isles by the armed forces of Nazi Germany looked imminent, Gandhi offered the following advice to the British people:

"I would like you to lay down the arms you have as being useless for saving you or humanity. You will invite Herr Hitler and Signor Mussolini to take what they want of the countries you call your possessions.... If these gentlemen choose to occupy your homes, you will vacate them. If they do not give you free passage out, you will allow yourselves, man, woman, and child, to be slaughtered, but you will refuse to owe allegiance to them". (Non-Violence in Peace and War)

===Truth===
The embracing of nonviolence was part of Gandhi's wider mission to seek truth (The Story of My Experiments with Truth). He tried to achieve this by learning from his own mistakes and conducting experiments on himself.

He found that uncovering the truth was not always popular as many people were resistant to change, preferring instead to maintain the existing status quo because of either inertia, self-interest or misguided beliefs. However he also discovered that once the truth was on the march nothing could stop it. All it took was time to achieve traction and gain momentum. As Gandhi said:

"The Truth is far more powerful than any weapon of mass destruction".

He said that the most important battle to fight was in overcoming his own demons, fears and insecurities. He thought it was all too easy to blame people, governing powers or enemies for his personal actions and wellbeing. He noted the solution to problems could normally be found just by looking in the mirror.

One of the greatest contributions of Mahatma Gandhi was in the realm of ontology and its association with truth. For Gandhi, "to be" did not mean to exist within the realm of time, as it has in the past with the Greek philosophers. But rather, "to exist" meant to exist within the realm of truth, or to use the term Gandhi did, satya. Gandhi summarized his beliefs first when he said "God is Truth," but as typical of Gandhi, he evolved, later to correct himself and state that "Truth is God." The first statement seemed insufficient to Gandhi, as the mistake could be made that Gandhi was using Truth as a description of God, as opposed to God as an aspect of satya. Satya (Truth) in Gandhi's philosophy IS God. It shares all the characteristics of the Hindu concept of God, or Brahman. It lives within us, that little voice that tells us what to do, but also guides the universe.

===Vegetarianism===
Although he experimented with eating meat in India when he was very young, he later became a strict vegetarian. He wrote books on the subject while in London, having met vegetarian campaigner Henry Salt at gatherings of the Vegetarian Society. The idea of vegetarianism is deeply ingrained in [[Hindu]] and [[Jain]] traditions in India, and, in his native land of [[Gujarat]], most Hindus were vegetarian. He experimented with various diets and concluded that a vegetarian diet should be enough to satisfy the minimum requirements of the body. He abstained from eating for long periods, using fasting as a political weapon. He refused to eat until his death or his demands were met.

===Celibacy===
Gandhi gave up sexual intercourse at the age of 36, becoming totally celibate while still married. This decision was deeply influenced by the Hindu idea of [brahmacharya]]—spiritual and practical purity—largely associated with celibacy. Gandhi did not however believe that this was something that everyone should take up. In his autobiography he tells of his battle against lustful urges and fits of jealousy with his childhood bride, Kasturba. He felt it his personal obligation to remain celibate so that he could learn to love, rather than lust. Part of this may also have been influenced by the fact that his father passed away while he was making love to his wife.

===Silence===
Gandhi spent one day of each week in silence. He believed that abstaining from speaking brought him inner peace. This influence was drawn from the Hindu principles of mouna (silence) and shanti (peace). On such days he communicated with others by writing on paper. For three and a half years, from the age of 37, Gandhi refused to read newspapers, claiming that the tumultuous state of world affairs caused him more confusion than his own inner unrest.

===Clothing===
Returning to India from South Africa, where he had enjoyed a successful legal practice, he gave up wearing Western-style clothing, which he associated with wealth and success. He dressed to be accepted by the poorest person in India. He advocated the use of homespun cloth (khadi). Gandhi and his followers adopted the practice of weaving their own clothes from thread they themselves spun, and encouraged others to do so. While Indian workers were often idle due to unemployment, they had often bought their clothing from industrial manufacturers owned by British interests. It was Gandhi's view that if Indians made their own clothes, it would deal an economic blow to the British establishment in India. Consequently, the spinning wheel was later incorporated into the flag of the Indian National Congress.

===Religion===
Gandhi questioned religious practices and doctrines regardless of traditions or beliefs. On the subject of Christianity he noted that:

"The only people on earth who do not see Christ and His teachings as nonviolent are Christians".
Although Gandhi was born a Hindu he was critical of most religions, including Hinduism. He wrote in his autobiography:

"Thus if I could not accept Christianity either as a perfect, or the greatest religion, neither was I then convinced of Hinduism being such. Hindu defects were pressingly visible to me. If untouchability could be a part of Hinduism, it could but be a rotten part or an excrescence. I could not understand the raison d'etre of a multitude of sects and castes. What was the meaning of saying that the Vedas were the inspired Word of God? If they were inspired, why not also the Bible and the Koran? As Christian friends were endeavouring to convert me, so were Muslim friends. Abdullah Sheth had kept on inducing me to study Islam, and of course he had always something to say regarding its beauty".

He then went on to say:

"As soon as we lose the moral basis, we cease to be religious. There is no such thing as religion over-riding morality. Man, for instance, cannot be untruthful, cruel or incontinent and claim to have God on his side".
Gandhi was critical of the hypocrisy in organised religion, rather than the principles on which they were based. He also said the following about Hinduism:

"Hinduism as I know it entirely satisfies my soul, fills my whole being ... When doubts haunt me, when disappointments stare me in the face, and when I see not one ray of light on the horizon, I turn to the Bhagavad Gita, and find a verse to comfort me; and I immediately begin to smile in the midst of overwhelming sorrow. My life has been full of tragedies and if they have not left any visible and indelible effect on me, I owe it to the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita".
The concept of Islamic jihad can also be taken to mean a nonviolent struggle or satyagraha, in the way Gandhi practiced it. On Islam he said:

"The sayings of Muhammad are a treasure of wisdom, not only for Muslims but for all of mankind".
Later in his life when he was asked whether he was a Hindu, he replied:

"Yes I am. I am also a Christian, a Muslim, a Buddhist and a Jew".

[[Badshah Khan]] was a stalwart Muslim and [[Pathan]]. And while Pathans today have the image of being ruthless and violent, Khan developed an organization, the ''Khudai Khidmatgars'' more committed to non-violent civil resistance than the [[Indian National Congress]] led by Gandhi himself. Khan's supporters took bullets, but looked soldiers straight in the eye without anger, frustration or fear.

Gandhi believed that at the core of every religion was Truth (Satya), Love/Nonviolence (Ahimsa) and the Golden Rule. He was deeply influenced by the Christian teaching of nonresistance and "turning the other cheek", once stating that if Christianity practised the Sermon on the Mount, he would indeed be a Christian. Gandhi felt that one should be aware of worshiping the symbols and idols of the religion and not its teachings, such as worshipping the crucifix whilst ignoring its significance as a symbol for self-sacrifice, for example.

===Faith===
In spite of their deep reverence to each other, Gandhi and [[Rabindranath Tagore]] got involved in protracted debates more than once. These debates exemplify the philosophical differences between the two most famous Indians at the time. On January 15, 1934, an earthquake hit Bihar and cause extensive damage and loss of life. Gandhi maintained this was because of the sin committed by upper caste Hindus by not letting untouchables in their temples (Gandhi was committed to the cause of improving the fate of untouchables, referring to them as Harijans, people of Krishna). Tagore vehemently opposed Gandhi's stance, maintaining that an earthquake can only be caused by natural forces, not moral reasons, however repugnant the practice of untouchability may be.

==Without Truth, Nothing==

The actions and reactions of Jawaharlal Nehru and Rajiv Gandhi exposed Mahatma Gandhi to unjust criticism, for Gandhi himself was connected with the actions of other people in different times. His becoming a pacifist-icon have caused conservatives and nationalists to resent his teachings all together.

Modern Indian politicians, liberals and peace-lovers worldwide have incorporated a lot of their own instincts, passions and understandings sufficiently to corrupt the common meaning of Gandhism. Gandhism is seen today as outright [[pacifism]], [[internationalism]] and [[socialism]]. This understanding is too broad and quite wrong.

In 1942, while he had already condemned [[Adolf Hitler]], [[Benito Mussolini]] and the Japanese militarists, Gandhi took on an offensive in civil resistance, called the [[Quit India Movement]], which was even more dangerous and definitive owing to its direct call for Indian independence. Gandhi was not hypocritical thus - he did not see the British as defenders of freedom giving their continuance of imperialist domination in India. Gandhi did not feel a need to take sides with world powers.

Gandhism is brutal adherence to truth. If it means condemning the practice of [[untouchability]] in Hindu society, it means condemning the victimization of Muslim women and coerced conversions to Islam and Christianity in the same breath. Gandhism has no respect for power, especially as the man himself took down the mighty [[British Empire]]. No institution, especially a human one, is infallible, save [[God]].

And while Gandhi believed that all humans are susceptible to sinful actions and behavior, and that he and [[Joseph Stalin]] were essentially the same despite the difference in their lives, beliefs and actions, Gandhi firmly believed in humans not having the right to punish any other human beings. Punishment is God's work.

==Who Can Be A Gandhian?==

Despite Gandhi's adherence to Hindu cultural and religious values, Gandhism is broad over everything save the truth, which is definite and inviolable. Gandhism is the envelope around the principle of Truth. Truth by itself may be hard and too rigorous to adhere to in very complex period of life, but Gandhism makes truth inviting and redeeming.

A Muslim, a Christian, an atheist be a Gandhian without any discrepancy with his or her faith, profession or lifestyle. Gandhism transcends national boundaries, gender, racial and sexual orientation, and is as universal as humanity itself.

From personal lifestyle and character, Gandhism extends to the world of politics, human relations and religion. Gandhism yet is very difficult to define just as a religion, a political philosophy or social tradition.

==References==

* [[Mahatma Gandhi|M.K. Gandhi]]: ''[[The Story of My Experiments with Truth|My Autobiography, Or The Story Of My Experiments With Truth]]'' ([[1929]])
* Rajmohan Gandhi: ''Patel: A Life''
* ''Gandhi'', by [[Richard Attenborough]] (1982)
* ''Civil Disobedience'' by Henry David Thoreau

==See also==
* [[Christian anarchism]]
* [[Mahatma Gandhi]]
* [[Nonviolence]]
* [[Nonviolent resistance]]
* [[Nonresistance]]
* [[Pacifism]]

Revision as of 04:22, 18 September 2005

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