Many in India believe that both Mahatma Gandhi and Baba Saheb Ambedkar were a sort of mild anathema to Hindutva forces in India. Of late, our new 2014 rulers have started worshipping Mahatma Gandhi and Baba Saheb Ambedkar, for whatever be the reasons. Today, in India, we are not following much of Mahatma Gandhi's theories and/or practices. Many of our present leaders consider Mahatma Gandhi as anachronistic and obsolete, though they do not openly admit it for fear of losing some vote banks (there may not be many votebanks left, who will vote if Gandhiji's name is chanted. Those days were gone).
Today, Indian Communism / Marxism / Socialism is also at cross-roads. Our CPI and CPIM Leaders also appear to be bewildered, after their party was badly mauled in West Bengal. In 2016, CPIM has been resurrected in Kerala, while BJP has made an arangetram in Kerala Assembly. Probably out of that one seat enthusiasm, or for whatever be any other reason, BJP has a few days back conducted its National Executive Meeting in Kerala, addressed by the Luminaries of BJP, particularly our PM Shri Narendra Modi, and BJP President Amit Shah. True, one swallow may not make a spring. Of course, there is another aphorism: "...The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step...".
Mr. Shah (and as a corollary his boss Shri Narendra Modi) seems to have built similar hopes of BJP making deeper trenches in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. The 2016 CM of Kerala, Mr. Pinarayi Vijayan is reported to have invited a Harvard Economist !!! to guide him in shaping the administrative and economic policies of Kerala. Doesn't Mr. Vijayan know anything about True and Complete Socialism? What a shameful downfall !!!
I believe today's CPI and CPM may not have as much disdain or indifference which their founders and pioneers of 1920s and 1930s had, of Mahatma Gandhi, and his movements, particularly non-violence, khadi and takli, Salt Satya Graha 1930, Non-Co-operation 1921, Quit India 1942 etc. etc. Though CPI and CPIM may not openly shower praises on Mahatma Gandhi (Indian Communists considered Nehru and Indira Gandhi as socialists. Combined Communist Party of India underwent a division in 1962 on the questions of attitude towards Congress and Nehru, and of course Russia-China squirmishes), they seemed to be reconciled with the ideas of holding Mahatma Gandhi on a high pedestal.
Whatever be the reason, since my childhood, knowingly or unknowingly, I started cultivating some special adoration for Mahatma Gandhi, though occasionally, I came across some material which indicated that there seems to be exaggerations-- suggesting that Gandhiji may be a great soul, but definitely not a super -God. So far, my faith on Gandhiji did not suffer much, although my stone-solid adoration seems to have started melting, like the demy-God Varuna who tested Senior NTR in the Telugu film Jagadeka Virudi katha, when Ghantasala sang "Siva Sankari Sivananda lahari Siva Sankari" in his immortal voice.
During my adolescence and early youth I started adoring Swami Vivekananda also. After my retirement from bank, when I took up a deeper study of Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, all my fascinations and infatuations about him melted away, and my eyes were opened. For some of the revelations which occurred to me, my readers can read at my Swami Vivekananda blog:
Click to go to http://vivekanandayb.blogspot.com
Then, my study on Valmiki Ramayana, ditched me more.
Click to go to my ramayanayb.blogspot.com blog. . After writing my Valmiki ramayana blog I got much disillusioned. I am a worshipper of all the three Raju-s (Three kings) of Telugu Literature and Music: Bammera Potaraju, Kancherla Goparaju, and Tyagaraju. All the three Great Souls worshipped Lord Rama. Without the word 'Rama' neither Telugu Literature nor South Indian Music cannot exist.
Mahabharata and Mahabhagavata too disappointed me. My readers can visit my mahabharata blog
Click to go to Mahabharatayb.blogspot.com , and
Click to go to mahabhagavatayb.blogspot.com . Finally, sometimes, I started engaging myself in repeated introspections. I thought that something must have gone wrong with me somewhere sometime.
Back to Mahatma Gandhi and Late Shapurji Saklatvala
My readers may be aware about my Mahatma Gandhi blog. Link:
Click to go to Mahatma Gandhi blog http://gandhijiyb.blogspot.com. At present there are 28 posts there. . A few readers of mine asked me to write more about Mahatma Gandhi, some years back. At that time, I could not venture (badvenure? adventure?) into it, because I was a disillusioned fellow.
In 2016, the world today is in a sort of shambles. Russia is making military exercises with the Terrorist Pakisthan. China, Cuba, Vietnam, North Korea, etc. etc. nobody can be said to be 'representatives' of even minuscule fragments of Communism / Marxism / Socialism.
British Labor Party, Greek Labor Party ( by whatever name it is called) are in shambles. Though Mr. Bernie Sanders raised some false hopes in 2016 American Presidential Elections, now, he too seems to be at cross-roads.
At this juncture, I thought that I can spend some time of my very very precious remaining active-days of life (I am already 66/67) on something worthwhile, instead of indulging in some wild-goose-chase. I thought of making a comparative analyses of theories and workings of Gandhiji and Lenin. For the purpose, I have downloaded the Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi. These are available free on net, in 100 volumes, pdf files. If my readers are interested, they can convert them into txt files for easy search, using linux package pdftotext, which is automatically available in Ubuntu. Link for downloading the Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi:
Click to go to Gandhiserve.org . One important observation: When we go to devotee websites, we can get only sanitised versions, which are uploaded after excising socially-irking portions.
The Collected Works of Lenin are also available on the Net free. We can get these in 45 volumes. Link for those who wish to study Lenin:
Click to go to Marxists.org
At the same place of downloading Collected Works of Lenin, I found a link to a memoriam on Late Shapurji Saklatvala .
Click to go to study a memoriam of Late Shapurji Saklatvala, a Labor Leader of 1920s-30s in England, and in India. https://www.marxists.org/archive/pollitt/articles/1936/02/saklatvala.htm
I reproduce an excerpt from the above Memoriam of Late Shapurji Saklatvala.
His amazing vitality, his profound knowledge, his ready and comradely advice, his cultural attainments and his unrivaled abilities as an orator and exponent of the revolutionary principles of the Communist International, leave a wide gap in our ranks.
In very truth we can say of our beloved comrade:
“He died for the workers.
In life he was one whose
Love knew no stint, whom
No fear could appall.”
Only those who have known him intimately can form any idea of the work that he did.
Night after night, year after year, in all parts of Britain he carried out his task of working class agitation, education and organization. Only those who also participate in this understand the ceaseless strain and anxiety it entails. No comrade ever did more of this work so uncomplainingly as Comrade Saklatvala.
No call was ever made upon him to which he did not respond. Be the meeting large or small, it was always the same. Be it near or far it was all the same.
Question: Why are you bringing in Late Shapurji Saklatvala today? How is relevant today?
Ans: While downloading the Collected Works of Late Lenin, I came across, a piece of article by Late Shapurji Saklatvala, published in Source: Labour Monthly, July, 1930, Vol. 12, No. 7. Title of this article is "Who is this Gandhi?". Link for those who wish to study this article of Late Shapurji Saklatvala on Mahatma Gandhi:
Click to go to https://www.marxists.org/archive/saklatvala/1930/07/gandhi.htm . I have gone through this article. Prima facie, it is too strong on Mahatma Gandhi. It seemed to have been somewhat exaggerated, against Mahatma Gandhi. But then, the above memoriam on Saklatvala, speaks very highly about Late Shapurji Saklatvala.
There is a proverb: Beauty lies in beholders eye! At this too early stages of my analyses on Lenin, Gandhiji, I do not want to believe or disbelieve Saklatvala. It will be too early and too hasty. But, yet, Saklatvala seems to have written some home truths about Mahatma Gandhi. It is our duty to examine each statement of his, and seggregate what can be accepted, and what cannot be accepted.
We shall have a quote from the above article, of Late Shapurji Saklatvala;
"...In his young days he went to South Africa to assist the Indian colonials who were badly oppressed by the British and the Dutch. He never made the slightest attempt socially and politically to unite the Negroes and the Indians together for the overthrow of the white man’s tyranny. He cultivated a separatist mentality among the Indians based on religious superstition and social snobbery. Whenever the humiliation or the suffering was too great for his Indian followers he gave them a dose of Tolstoy’s philosophy. Every now and again he sang songs of praise for the British Empire, and actually made people believe that there was love and justice in the hearts of imperialist rulers and capitalist employers. He left the poor Negroes alone and wasted his time in bothering with detailed grievances of small Indian merchants and traders. Whenever some vulgar favour was shown by the British master towards a few rich Indians in South Africa, Gandhi would burst out into a song like the Empire’s nightingale. He ignored the fact that South Africa belongs to the negroes and that the white tyrants were a small minority, and were the worst type of exploiters, gold hunters and diamond diggers.
..."
The above article was written during/soon after Salt Satyagraha Movement 1930. Late Saklatvala seems to have concluded in 1930 itself that Gandhiji would become a General Smut of India. Who this General Smut was, my readers can find from the above article "Who is this Gandhi".
ybrao-a-donkey's humble comments. वैबीराव एक गधे के विनम्र राय . వైబీరావ్ గాడిద వినమ్ర వాణి. You have every right to differ with me. I respect your right. आपको मेरे मत से भिन्न राय रखने के संपूर्ण हक है। मै उस अधिकार को परिपूर्ण रूप से गौरव देता हुँ. మీకు, మీ భిన్నమైన అభిప్రాయాన్ని కలిగిఉండే సంపూర్ణ హక్కు ఉంది. దానిని ఎంతో నేను గౌరవిస్తాను. However, pl. examine this donkey's views also. परन्तु एस गधे के दृष्टिकोण को भी अनुशीलन कीजिये. కానీ ఈ గాడిద దృష్టికోణాన్ని కూడ ఓర చూపుతో కంటజూడుమీ, క్రీగంట జూడమీ.
We are born in post-1947-independent India. We do not know much about Late Shapurji Saklatvala, either to the British Labor Party, or to the Indian Labor Movement, or to the World Communism / Marxism / Socialism.
What I am interested in, at this stage?
Though introduction of absolute true/Complete Socialism is not possible for a CPM Government like Kerala or Tripura, it is very very odd that their CM Pinarayi Vijayan should invite Harvard Economists to guide him. Is there any shortage of Socialist Economists in India? In fact, there is no need of Academic Economists also. It will be sufficient if CPM and CPI do not commit the same mistakes which they have done in West Bengal, when they were in power.
Example: West Bengal is a State, which has a very high density of population, and landlessness is very high there. The same is the case with Kerala. The people of Kerala have at least Gulf countries to fly to easily, and die there. People of Bengal cannot even have that luxury of death in Gulf. There, the CPM-CPI Left front snatched 1000 acres from peasants and handed over on a golden plater to Tatas, as if Tatas cannot buy lands in market.
What CPI-CPM in Bengal could have done then, or do now in Kerala? Employment cannot be created without industries. Industries cannot be established without lands.
Ans: Still, some forests are left in both Kerala and Bengal. More employment can be created through Cottage-tiny-small industries. It has already been proved. It has also been proved that Cottage-tiny-small industries have more export capabilities than the funds guzzling Medium and Large Industries.
1000 acre forest land / or wasteland containing thorny shrubs and snake pits are available all over India, including Bengal and Kerala. Even in my own State Residual Andhra Pradesh, they are not scarce. A 1000 acre land piece after allocating say 100 acres for roads, electric substation, overhead tank for water, etc. can leave 900 acres, or approx. 450,000 square yards. 2,250 cottage/tiny/small-scale industrial units can be started in bits of 200 sq.yds. each.
To continue. Subject to further editing to remove anything illegal/unlawful. सशेष. సశేషం.
