Review Article by Gladson Jathanna
GANDHI IN SOUTH AFRICA: A RACIST OR A LIBERATOR? by Siby K. Joseph. Wardha: Institute of Gandhian Studies, 2019. 111 pages. Inclusive of Appendix. No index.
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| Dr. Siby K. Joseph Dean of Studies and Research Institute of Gandhian Studies, Wardha |
Noam Chomsky once said, “It is the responsibility of intellectuals to speak the truth and to expose lies.”[1] An intellectual, who is committed for the cause of a peaceful co-existence, can never sit peacefully at the face of lies dancing on the tenanted truth/s and threatening the peace of all. He/She would spend sleepless nights and days struggling to expose those celebrated lies and to speak out the distorted truth. And finally, when the truth is told, s/he would find solace in the deepest shrine of his/her being, witnessing to the enlightenment among the multitudes who embrace truth and discard the bundles of lies. This must be the experience of Dr. Siby K. Joseph, the Dean of Studies and Research, Institute of Gandhian Studies, Wardha, after the completion of his momentous book, Gandhi in South Africa: A Racist or A Liberator?, a work that redeems Mahatma Gandhi from the distorted images by unraveling the truths and exposing the lies about Mahatma.
This book is a result of a committedly engaged study reflecting on Gandhi’s approach to caste and race in South Africa. The book introduces the readers the conviction of the author, which emerges out of an immersed study into the life and works of Gandhi, that ‘Gadhi was neither a casteist nor a racist’ (p.17). The hope by which the book is written is to help the readers in dispelling their doubts about Gandhi being a racist and to promote further research on this area of study.
Ela Gandhi, the granddaughter of Mahatma Gandhi and a former Member of Parliament in South Africa, writes a very fitting, profound, and thought-provoking Foreword to this book. She holds that ‘truth can be distorted by the way in which it is presented or by giving a one-sided version, or by being simply untruthful.’ With this, she expresses her concern on the distorted truths in relation to the life and works of Gandhi. She firmly believes that ‘a person who advocated love of all life cannot be racist.’
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This Review has been first published on
Gandhi Marg Quarterly
41(4), 2019: 473-477.
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The following chapters attempt to study the above-mentioned opinions and contexts in detail, particularly in the light of the major writings as well as the actions of Gandhi in South Africa. The author shows how the opinions against Gandhi were cropped up either by misquoting Gandhi or by taking his writings out of the context. Talking about Arundati Roy’s allegations against Gandhi, the second chapter shows that how Roy speaks either without evidence or skillfully culling out passages from Gandhi’s writings taking them out of their contexts in order to prove her opinions that Gandhi was a racist, that he was against indentured labourers and that he distanced himself from the coolies. Placing such misquoted passages from Gandhi’s writings in their right historical context, the author displays very clearly the follies of the most popular ‘liberal’ writer and activist of our time and shows how Gandhi broke caste, religious and racial borders and boundaries and went much beyond such barriers. This chapter also revisits Gandhi’s actions in South Africa and argues that any evaluation of Gandhi must consider not only his writings but also his actions in order to get a holistic picture of Gandhi’s attitude towards any sort of discrimination. It shows how Gandhi questioned the British policy of discriminating people on the basis of the colour of their skin. “He even went to the extent of discussing the idea of commingling of all races [already] in 1908 which was revolutionary at that time” (p. 49).
Revisiting Ashwin Desai and Goolam Vahed’s allegations against Gandhi as an upholder of Aryan race superiority and thus dehumanizer of the African race, the author goes back in the third chapter to the writings and statements of Gandhi that they were referring to. Placing Gandhi’s analogy of Aryan race theory in its socio-political historical context, the book argues that Gandhi was not in favor of claiming any sort of benefit on racial grounds or Aryan lineage. He, in no way, glorifies Aryan bloodline; on the contrary, he describes Aryans as colonizers (p. 55). Gandhi used this theory to remind the British that ‘Indians were in no way inferior to Anglo Saxon brethren’ (p. 56) and not to place the Brown over the Black. The author also revisits Gandhi’s use of the term kaffir for the black Africans (for which he was criticized fervently) and shows clearly that Gandhi was just using the language of his time and that he did not mean any ill will to the Africans by using the term. Moreover, the book shows how Gandhi derived inspiration from the sufferings of the Africans, especially of Zulus, for his Satyagraha movement. After his return from South Africa, even while fighting for the freedom of India, Gandhi was concerned about the problems of Blacks in Africa and America. “Thus his fight in the ultimate analysis was not merely for the freedom of India but also of Africa, and America” (p. 64).
The third context is addressed in the fourth chapter: the opposition to the installation of the Gandhi statue in Ghana and to the installation of Gandhi bust in Malawi. In the first case, six citations were made from the works of Gandhi whereas in the second case, three arguments were made against Gandhi again citing some statements of Gandhi in order to show that he had contempt for the black African race. The author once again very committedly argues and shows how these citations were taken out of context and ascribed unintended meanings to them. He passionately relocates the cited statements in their right historical contexts and shows the readers how distorted judgments were drawn against Gandhi by adopting a reductionist approach.
The fifth chapter brings the quotations of Gandhi which Obadele Kambon used to show that Gandhi was a thorough going racist. Those quotations are juxtaposed with the relevant texts from “The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi” in order to help the readers to understand the context of Gandhi’s statements and to know better the meaning of citations which appear offensive at the first sight. Along with that, the author brings in the statements of L. W. Ritch and Mahomed Khan which were presented by the petitioners as Gandhi’s own. As the author clearly mentions, “The primary aim of giving the relevant text of his citations is not to tell that Gandhi was perfect, error-free or a Mahatma… [The] author would like to suggest that a historical person should be evaluated from the viewpoints and practices of his time, not those of our time. In addition, an ever-evolving person like Gandhi should be assessed on the basis of the totality of his positions on race, caste, equality, and liberty when they took firm shape” (p. 99).
The book ends with the full text of Gandhi’s written Statement in the Great Trial of 1922 as a fitting appendix. This, along with all the other citations to Gandhi’s works in the book, enables the readers to see on their own, without being influenced by any secondary readings and perspectives, that how Gandhi went far beyond his time in his approach to issues related to race, caste, colour, and creed in comparison to his contemporaries. As Ela Gandhi rightly asserts, ‘this book helps to clarify one point very clearly and that is that one cannot make conclusions based on quotes, stated out of context.’ However, it is quite evident that in our much polarized contemporary context, prejudiced conclusions are easily drawn to establish and celebrate bundles of lies. It is doubly disturbing when the so-called champions of liberalism become the rigorous proponents of such untruths. That is why, perhaps, the Latin American proverb says, “liberals are fascists on vacation.” This book reminds the need to qualify the contextual criticism of history and historical personalities which does not come from a deep sense of commitment to the wellbeing of all but from a prejudiced egoistic opinion. Dr. Siby K. Joseph needs to be congratulated and appreciated for this enthusiastically engaged and decisively daring tribute to Mahatma and hence unveiling a number of distorted and disfigured truths in the history. Hence, the present book is a must-read for both the admirers and the critics of Gandhi. And above all, it is a must-read for those who really care for the past, present, and future of a borderless society for which Gandhi stood, strived, and even surrendered his life.
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[1] Noam Chomsky, “The Responsibility of Intellectuals,” in The Essential Chomsky, edited by Anthony Arnove, New York, London: The New Press, 2008, 40.
