Part 1 - Mahatma Gandhi: Good Man or Bad Man?
Today, we will talk about some of the most controversial aspects of the life of Gandhi, delving deeper into the life of the Mahatma.
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi or Gandhi is a name that remains etched in the hearts, and if not hearts, then definitely the minds of countless Indians. In all likeliness, it is to remain there for several decades to come. His appeal to the masses cannot be denied. Everyone knows about the life and the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi, However, he too had been involved in a few controversies. Today, we will talk about some of the most controversial aspects of the life of Gandhi, delving deeper into the life of the Mahatma.
No support to Bhagat Singh- Gandhi preached non-violence, while Bhagat Singh and his fellow comrades were revolutionary . Bhagat Singh-Rajguru-Sukhdev, the trio was executed in the Lahore jail on 23rd March, 1931. A lot of people were blaming Gandhi for not helping save them. There eight meetings between Gandhi and Lord Irwin, Viceroy of India after which the Gandhi-Irwin pact was signed in March 1931. This pact mentioned key issues like lifting the ban on congress, returning the confiscated properties of Satyagrahi, release of political prisoners. However, it did not mention the 3 revolutionaries’ names. Mahatma Gandhi wrote a letter to the Viceroy of India with a request to stop the execution. But, it was dated March 23rd, 1931- the same day Singh was scheduled to be hanged. People believe that if Gandhi had launched a nation-wide movement to protest against the execution, or been more stern with his demand of mercy for the three, then they would not have lost their lives.
Personal Life - According to several reports Gandhi mistreated his family. He wrote about his illiterate wife: "I simply cannot bear to look at Ba's face. The expression is often like that on the face of a meek cow and gives one the feeling as a cow occasionally does, that in her own dump manner she is saying something." He set up ashrams in which he began his first "experiments" with sex; boys and girls were to bathe and sleep together, chastely, but were punished for any sexual talk. Men and women were segregated, and Gandhi's advice was that husbands should not be alone with their wives, and, when they felt passion, should take a cold bath. Gandhi practiced and supported celibacy. However, his opinions and behaviour surrounding sexuality were different. Later in his life, Gandhi is said to have started sleeping with naked women, far younger than him including his two grand-nieces, Abha and Manu. Gandhi’s reason for doing so, to prevent himself from engaging in any sexual activity with them. The basic idea was to test his self-control. Gandhi was involved with a German man named Hermann Kallenbach. He wrote to Kallenbach.“Your portrait (the only one) stands on my mantelpiece in my bedroom. The mantelpiece is opposite to the bed.” The two pledged more love, such love as the world has not yet seen. When Gandhi's wife was stricken with pneumonia, British doctors told her husband that a shot of penicillin would heal her; Gandhi refused to have alien medicine and she died. Soon after, Gandhi, who caught Malaria, initially did not agree to take quinine medicine, later allowing doctors to save his life with Quinine.
We’ll take the story forward till then wait for the next part.
