If I were to ask you about what you thought of the man Mahatma Gandhi (or Gandhiji, as the Indian people say it), you'd probably tell me that you see Gandhi as a man who is righteous, hero humble , peaceful , and wise spiritual, honorific, ethical, modest, simple, courageous, uniting, inspirational. In fact, these are actual qoutes that an american man wrote on “Wikianswers”. However, something that caught my attention when in India is that some Indian people don’t think the highest of “the Father of India.”
One might that the Indian people would be the biggest fans of Gandhi in the world. But many people that I spoke to had a lot to say against Gandhi.
“he’s a politician”
This argument was one that we found very common. One of our guides told us that Gandhi was brilliant and smart and insights and blah blah blah but deep down was just another politicians that cared only about himself. Our guide went on to ask the rhetorical question “if you cared about the whole of your country and not yourself then you would work towards freeing your nation without losing all the lives that Gandhi’s actions lead to.” (Too me, this seems like a pretty poorly worded/poorly structured argument.)
“he holds a double standard”
This argument is only fuelled by the fact that although the Mahatma preached faithfulness inside a marriage he himself held a harem of concubines. This single inconsistency in Gandhi’s life is something that Indians today see as a very large flaw in the man. Although it is a flaw, I don’t think that it should fully change your perspective on a brilliant freedom fighter like Gandhi.
“he failed in his major mission”. His upfront goal for India was to have one country where Hindus and Muslims can live happily ever after. However, over the years there was much violent strife between the two religions and they were forced to split off. This strife forced the North Western chunk of India to break off and form their own Muslim run country. This country is called Pakistan.
At first, I was almost in shock. Someone that people in America see as flawless is seen by others as flawful; How does this happen?
After pondering this for a little while, I realized that the reason this happens is the same reason that people all across the world see Obama as an amazing President and a phenomenal person while people here see all of his mishaps.
How the domestic public sees you is very different than how the global public sees you.
This piece of paper shows:
The hindu sign called the swastika symbolises the hindu beliefs of kindness and about having an open mind.
The crescent and start which is the symbol of islam and the muslim beliefs.
The type reads "The two religions could not live together because of their difference in beliefs. So the muslim majority of India had to break off from greater India and create their own country called pakistan. The facththat the two religions couldn't live in the same country with one another is one of Gandhi's biggest failings and a gruge that many people hold against Gandhi himself."
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