60 THE WEEK • JUNE 30, 2019
of the powerful Ishwar Allah Tere Naam couplet
says, Sabko Sanmati De Bhagawan. It is a prayer
for ‘discernment’ or for ‘good or constructive
thoughts’ in all.
Th e fi ghter who mobilised Indians of all back-
grounds for great struggles, saying he himself was
always ready for anything, was also one praying
all the time for strength and wisdom.
A distinct ahimsa: For long reduced to rules of
diet, India’s ancient concept, ahimsa, was given
potent new meanings by Gandhi. After it passed
through his hands, ahimsa became a weapon for
struggle as also a guide for interpersonal relations.
During his life-long eff orts to put across the
folly of violence, Gandhi frequently used extreme
language. Taken out of context, Gandhi’s sweep-
ing words about ahimsa’s power could even
suggest that he wanted independent India to have
no army or police.
Th at was certainly not the case. As is well-
known, Gandhi did not object to the dispatch
of Indian soldiers to Kashmir in October 1947,
and there is no record of any private or public
suggestion from him for disbanding India’s
military forces.
At his prayer-meeting on November 24, 1947,
Gandhi gave his opinion on when and how a kir-
pan, the traditional Sikh sword, may be used:“A sacred thing has to
be used on sacred and
lawful occasions. A kirpan
is undoubtedly a symbol
of strength, which adorns
the possessor only if he
exercises amazing restraint
over himself and uses it
against enormous odds...
(CW 90: 98).”
Th ree weeks earlier,
referring to Afridis from
Pakistan’s tribal areas who
had raided Kashmir with
the backing of Pakistan’s
government, Gandhi had
similarly said that he would
not ask the Afridis to give
up their arms. Th ey could
keep the arms, but only “in
order to protect the indi-
gent, the women and the
children’ (CW 89: 460).”
As Gandhi saw it, weapons were of
value only when used by persons of
courage and restraint to protect innocent
life. Th ey were a menace when used to
threaten the vulnerable.
Will Gandhi be shocked today? It may
be asked whether Gandhi’s spirit, wher-
ever it resides, is shocked, 71 years after
his death, at praise from some quarters
for his assassination. In 1915, more than a
hundred years ago that is, and only some
months after he had returned for good
from South Africa, Gandhi was asked by a
young man from Gujarat, Indulal Yagnik
(who would become an often-critical
ally), whether he expected a following for
civil disobedience in India.
Replied Gandhi: “I am not very
much worried about securing a large
following. Th at will come in due course.
But I do anticipate that a time may come
when my large following may throw
me overboard on account of my strict
adhesion to my principles—and it may
be that I shall almost be turned out on
the streets and have to beg for a piece of
bread from door to door (Yagnik, Gandhi
As I Knew Him, Danish Mahal, New
Delhi, 1943, pp. 9-10).”UNDER
THE KNIFE
Gandhi undergoing
an operation at the
Sassoon Hospital,
Poona, in 1924The image above
is from Gandhi:
An Illustrated
Biography by
Pramod Kapoor,
published by
Roli BooksCOURTESY:GANDHI: AN ILLUSTRATED BIOGRAPHY/ROLI BOOKS/DINODIA