One of the world’s greatest moral leaders, Mahatma Gandhi is not only recognized in a statue before India’s Parliament House. But more importantly, he is in the minds of the millions who came to truly understand his leading ideas about India’s struggle for independence from Britain and well beyond, likely so for time immemorial for succeeding generations. His courageous stand against violence, using non-violent methods to really change the world positively would be remarkable if they could inspire more countries of the North, today which seem more consumed with using the barbarity of “mass murder” to settle differences. And as UNESCO, the world cultural organization has so well stated, it is in the minds of humankind that peace is forged. That Gandhi behind India’s true independence understood this well, as so does India’s leadership.
Yet the West, especially through its various endeavors seems to be pushing its not all honorable values of hegemony and war that are snuffing out whole cultures and languages or subordinating them in the zeal of exceptionalism and post-modern thinking, that almost any kind of behaviour goes. The emerging multi-polar world may help offset this nihilism and negativism. However, there is a need for these Anglo-Saxon culture-based countries that dominate finance and the globe culturally, way too much to better seek a move towards a more Gandhi enlightenment. This is no more so in regards to the United States and the United Kingdom, a core to Western power.
Firstly, and foremost would be to move away from the oligarchical elements of the American-UK integrated war machine that is pushing war and neo-imperialism still so much, along with the belief in the almighty dollar even at the expense of solid spirituality. The US-UK “axis” legacy of physical and psychological destruction often focused on many brown and black people and the poor should really make them pause that they should be ascribed to deserve more than brief collective therapy and reflection. Even widespread transcendental meditation for large numbers of their elites might just not do it for them, but it is likely worth a try and a good start if these western leaders could be flexible enough to commit to such beneficial Eastern ideas. But rather, the West led by many of its elites, for the most part may need a major overhaul, in fact before the civilization they are “guardians” over even collapses one day. This is so, given how bad the structural problems they are facing and generating between the riots in France over pension cuts and racism to the revolt against the legacy of slavery and racism in the UK to a US that may end up being led by a convict in jail. How appropriate? Even the Russians, not too high up on the West these days have such worries about these countries going way wayward – including more Westerners, themselves. Nobody needs the US and UK going down the tubes. Indeed, Indians should worry and New Delhi, too to help save America and the UK with a new inclusive mindset that sheds bullying, arrogance, exceptionalism and social and spiritual dysfunction. Indian institutes to spread “Indianism”, therefore, should be spread throughout America and the UK?
Consistently, now as Prime Minister Narendra Modi has so well stated, the challenge is also to decolonize the minds of all Indians and no doubt the many in the South and beyond, needing so. In this and with many other ideas he holds, the Indian Prime minister is in a way the current manifestation of Mahatma Gandhi – a real Gandhi to follow. Faux imitators need not apply for his job? And real leaders should less look to Anglo-Saxon dominated countries, not only for sustainable peace-making ideas. But these false imitators should avoid opening a new door to a new colonialism that would “trash” Mahatma Gandhi’s wonderful legacy to Indians and the world as a whole. You cannot say you are pro-India in large letters when you are not, but simply pro-power thinking of giving in way too much to hegemonic dollars.
Now, to give some further balance as to the idea of inclusiveness as well talked about and delivered by Prime Minister Modi should be kept in mind is his reach out to all, including President Joe Biden from his recent state visit to Washington.There is no need to isolate large and important stretches of the world.
And regarding the UK, British history also shows the great force of entrepreneurship as its contribution to industrialization that forwarded many benefits and the rise of the middle class. It was the same with the high level of dedication to education as seen even today in primary to tertiary education in Britain.
America borrowed from such on education, entrepeneurship and commercialization from English values in the nineteenth century to turn its top university education and economy into a juggernaut and eventually leading this into a critical market for many in the South and elsewhere. Be it Henry Ford, developing the model T and paying his workers enough so they could afford cars, to today’s Apple and other US technology making it easier for millions to access information, America has many positive uplifting stories that India can aknowledge and benefit from and is.
But unfortunately, in more recent times those positive stories have been undermined by too many in Washington and its London ally by inparticular their post-Soviet Union attitude in arrogantly and triumphantly pushing a sense of exceptionalism through interventionism, including with a “gun” with a US “flag of democracy” on it with a UK trigger.That is not how to encourage peace, the truths of brotherhood and sisterhood and the innate goodness of humanity that Gandhi idealized. If those managing tens of trillions of dollars of funds from Wall Street to the City of London to US-led NATO cannot figure it out, I am sure India’s leadership will be more helpful in the now and over years from trying to inoculate the West with more Gandhi thought.
Though, I am certainly not waiting for anyone to tear down the statue of King Richard the Lionheart in front of the UK Parliament for his vast cruelty of killing many innocent women and children in Asia. Or, neither am I waiting for the BBC doing a documentary on how Churchill when he was UK prime minister starved many millions of Indians by his actions that the book by Madhusree Mukerjee on “Churchill’Secret War” so well chronicles. But how about at least a statue placed in front of the US Congress not only currently at UK Parliament Square of Mahatma Gandhi. The West would well do so as to be very reminded of these holistic values that it should well represent and that the attached values that could save humanity, as well as the “Anglo-Saxons’ “own civilization. Simply speaking the West should follow the right Gandhi and his “incarnations”.
The author writes extensively on geopolitics.
