In the Wonderland of Indian Democracy

It is well-known that before independence Congress was a conglomeration of men and women of different shades and colours. It was not a regimented party of brainless freedom fighters. Yet Gandhiji mistook it for one and took undue advantage of his popularity and reverential complaisant position, to push his sole agenda hard in a desperate bid to impose his breed of Non-violence on others, and in the process to mindlessly or injudiciously ostracize all those he considered “non-believers”, critics or stumbling blocks. Thus, Gandhiji eased out good many passionately selfless and highly dedicated soldiers of the freedom movement in India, one of them being a young burning patriot, Subhas Chandra. Needless to add, Subhas was not against non-violence per se but at the same time was not averse to or afraid of any armed struggle wherever and whenever required. And in this regard he was not at all hypocritical, nor hyper-critical. He was quite firm in his conviction that Non-violence may be a good strategy for a strongman but a weak man has no other option. Instead of begging it was imperative to muster strength. He wanted to deal with the colonial rulers from a position of strength, respect and honour. That was precisely what Jinnah did at a much later stage and realized his “impossible dream” practically at gun point.