Prof Raojibhai Patel's book on Critical Evaluation of Gandhism Published on July 13th.25.
Part 1: The Modern World vs. Gandhism
Gandhiji's life, ideals, and the experiments based on them are easy to understand. However, Gandhism seems to have completely ignored the progress that humanity has made since the 15th century, starting with the Renaissance and the Age of Enlightenment, and continuing up to 1920 (the year Gandhiji became active in the Indian independence movement).
Gandhiji also wisely overlooked the achievements that humanity made over these five centuries. Instead of worshipping nature, people began solving problems with a human-centered, rational, and scientific approach, excluding God, religion, and their agents.
The French Revolution was a rebellion against social systems based on monarchy, theocracy, and feudalism. As Rousseau, the ideological force behind the revolution, famously said, "Man is born free, but everywhere he is in chains." Centered on human values like freedom, equality, and fraternity, the revolution created parliamentary democracy, the supremacy of citizens (not social groups or castes), and a market economy. It built a modern culture and institutions based on human-centered values, in contrast to the ten-thousand-year-old agricultural culture.
- In 1781, America adopted a constitution and passed the Bill of Rights, which established a complete separation of church and state.
- In 1861, President Lincoln, guided by the value that "all men are created equal," fought the Civil War to abolish slavery and grant constitutional rights to all African American citizens, paying the ultimate price with his life.
This period was also marked by great scientific and philosophical leaps:
- Galileo Galilei (1564–1642), a French astronomer, is considered the father of modern astronomy.
- Nicolaus Copernicus (1473–1543), a Polish astronomer, formulated a model of the universe with the Sun at its center.
- Giordano Bruno (1548–1600) was burned at the stake for his ideas that challenged biblical doctrine.
- Sir Isaac Newton (1643–1727), a British physicist and astronomer, was a cornerstone of the Age of Enlightenment and the father of the scientific revolution. He was a lifelong supporter of the British Royal Society.
- Edward Jenner (1749–1823), an English physician, discovered the world's first vaccine for smallpox.
- René Descartes (1596–1650), a French philosopher, scientist, and mathematician, is considered the founder of modern philosophy. He famously stated, "I think, therefore I am."
- John Locke (1632–1704) and David Hume (1711–1776) were philosophers who concluded that knowledge is solely the result of sensory experience. They argued that the brain's thinking power and decisions are a result of sensory messages and that the mind ceases to function when the senses die.
- Immanuel Kant (1724–1804), a German philosopher, proved in his book Critique of Pure Reason that truth based on 'rational reason' is a combination of both sensory experience and the mind's ability to find the cause of everything. According to Kant, the true identity of any object is based on human rational reason, not on how the human mind perceives it.
- Charles Darwin (1809–1882) wrote On the Origin of Species in 1848, and the materialist philosopher Karl Marx (1818–1883) published The Communist Manifesto in the same year. Their research discovered the laws of biological and social change, effectively supplanting the concept of God and making humanity the new creator of nature and social management.
Based on the knowledge that the Earth is round, Christopher Columbus (1451–1506) of Genoa, Italy, sailed west in 1492 in search of India, discovering the Caribbean and America instead. Vasco da Gama (1460–1524), a Portuguese explorer, sailed around Africa to reach India, where he eventually died in the city of Kochi.
How could Gandhiji have overlooked the fact that from the 16th century to 1920, European countries, including England, were engaged in economic enrichment by capturing and enslaving countries and islands around the world? By 1920, the British Union Jack was flying over more than 33% of the globe.
After World War I (1914–1920), the British rulers decided to facilitate local industrialists in colonies like India to establish modern industrial companies to produce goods that would be useful in the war. Immediately after 1920, industrial policy decisions were made to create a framework for India to become a modern industrial country. Britain was interested in Ahmedabad becoming the "Manchester of India" so that it would no longer need to import fabrics from its own country or Japan. However, Gandhi's Sabarmati Ashram and his principle of trusteeship did not allow mill owners in Ahmedabad to establish their own mills or give workers a stake in the management. Adam Smith, the father of capitalism, had already established that the creation of capital is the result of accumulated labor.
Part 2: Gandhiji's Hind Swaraj
The following excerpts are from Gandhiji's Gujarati book Hind Swaraj, written in 1908 on a steamer from England to South Africa. They offer a strong critique of the Western world and its "modernity."
- Gandhiji refused requests to change the content, stating: "This book strongly criticizes modern reforms... My convictions expressed in it are stronger today than ever... I have not found any reason to change the ideas expressed in this book... If India renounces 'modern reforms,' then it will benefit only her..." He adds that he regrets that "non-violence" is not practiced as passionately as it is described.
- He describes the British Parliament as "barren" and a "whore" because it "has not done a single good thing on its own" and "lives with the cabinet that appoints it."
- He claims that if India imitates England, it will be ruined, and that "Europe Improvement is a bad thing."
- He calls modernity a "disease," arguing that physical happiness is not a sign of improvement. He contrasts old and new ways of life, such as using steam engines for farming instead of manual labor, and questions if the increased number of books and factories is an improvement.
- He believes that modernity has enslaved people with the lure of money and pleasure, creating new pains that doctors then try to cure. He calls this a "bad-reform" that has spread in Europe, making people "half-mad."
- He states that Hinduism refers to such reforms as the "Kali Yuga."
- He compares modernity to "mice that eat away at the skin," arguing that traditional superstitions are preferable.
- He blames railways, lawyers, and doctors for making India poor and says that railways spread arrogance and make people forget God.
- He accuses lawyers of enslaving India and strengthening British rule by teaching "immorality."
- He claims that hospitals are the "roots of sin" and that teaching Western medicine is a way of strengthening slavery.
- He distinguishes between Indian and Western reform, stating that Indian reform strengthens morality with God's blessings, while Western reform strengthens immorality without God.
- Despite his strong criticisms, he states that his ultimate aim is "to achieve parliamentary-style Swaraj as desired by the people of India."
Part 3: An Evaluation of Gandhism by Prof. Raojibhai Patel
In this section, we will evaluate the book Gandhism, published by us on behalf of Prof. Raojibhai Patel, using a scientific method. The first two parts of this article serve as a foundation for understanding the logical arguments presented by Prof. Raojibhai.
- Part 1: We discussed the contributions of thinkers, scientists, and revolutionaries from the 14th and 15th centuries who cultivated a human-centric approach to understanding the physical reality of nature and its laws. This led to the creation of a modern society based on human-centered values, replacing a God-centric system.
- Part 2: We presented Gandhiji's critique of this "modernity" as a "disease," and his views on railways, lawyers, and doctors as the cause of India's impoverishment.
In his book, Gandhism – An Evaluation of the Method of Knowledge, Prof. Raojibhai Patel systematically evaluates Gandhian thought using a scientific approach. He discusses key issues, such as:
- The nature of "Gandhian truth," and whether truth is absolute or relative.
- The difference between subjective truth and evidence-based truth.
- How to verify truth received from intuition or an "inner voice."
- The conflict between truth created by birth and karma versus truth discovered through the biological struggle of evolution.
- The concepts of national unity for religious equality, mysticism, revelation, the caste system, and the "disembodied soul."
Prof. Raojibhai provides a systematic answer to each of these points. He also discusses his intellectual disagreements and agreements with other thinkers, such as Mohit Sen, Prof. Diwakar, A. B. Shah, Partha N. Mukherjee, and Prof. Pantham Thomas. He ultimately presents his own thesis based on the knowledge, science, and modern trends of the 20th and 21st centuries.
The intellectual discussion of Gandhian thought and its implementation is ongoing worldwide, and Prof. Raojibhai's work provides a crucial evaluation based on logic, science, and modern trends.
To obtain a copy of the book, please contact Girishbhai Sundhiya at 94266 63821.
