Analyse tha gandhian perspective on the nature of india state
Answers
Two points become extremely significant in this context – one for what did not happen and the other for what did. One might have expected that, after centuries of political deprivation, the Hindu mind would have gained a heightened appreciation of the power of the state – of which it had actually been a victim for so long. It must be considered surprising that this did not happen – at least not on the scale one would have imagined, if the rise of the Maratha and the Sikh empires are viewed as reflecting such response. The appreciation of the power of the state did not come as a reaction to the West but was in fact the result of the action of the West itself – as it affected Indian thought in the form of communism. In this context it is crucial to distinguish between the positions of Marx and Lenin. Marx visualized the withering away of the state – a scenario Gandhi would have applauded. But Lenin – by introducing the concept of the dictatorship of the proletariat – assigned a key role to state power. In this Nehru was a follower of Lenin. Thus it was Nehru who was recognized the significance of the power of the state – and not just of the state but a strong central state. In fact one of the reasons he gave for accepting partition is that the constitutional arrangements for an undivided India would have left India with a weak central government.
On this point he also broke with Gandhi. His vision of post-independent India differed from that of Gandhi in this crucial respect. At the critical moment, the Indian state after independence was hijacked by a Leninist from the hands of Gandhi – a Gandhi who did not consider it that important to begin with.
Even the Hindu right in this respect is more in line with Gandhi. All that they talk of is Hindu rashtra, never of Hindu rajya. It is as if of the hyphenated nation – state they have grabbed only one half – and according to statists the wrong half.