The man of white loincloth and John Lennon spectacles Mithun Dey Gandhi’s real attainment as a political head in the nation was to build a new shape of protest, a mass public statement which could, in the right circumstances, change history. It based at last on a responsive government. He shaped, from what he knew of British democracy, that the House of Commons would only be willing to suppress uprisings to a limited degree before conceding. For other Indian leaders who opposed Gandhi, he could be a wicked opponent. His claim to signify “in his person” all the exploited castes of India outraged the Dalit leader Dr BR Ambedkar. The father of nation even told him that they were not allowed to join his association to eliminate untouchability. “You owe naught to the debtors, and thus, so far as this board is concerned, the initiative has to come from the debtors.” Who could argue with Gandhi the lawyer? The whole object of this proposal, Ambedkar countered angrily, “is to make a slave frame of mind among the Untouchables towards their Hindu masters”. He was above all a sly operator and tactician. Having lived in Britain and South Africa, he was conversant in the system that he was attempting to subvert. He knew how to undermine the British, when to press an advantage and when to withdraw.
Posted on: Thu, 15 Aug 2013 06:05:14 +0000
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