What Is Mohandas Mahatma Gandhis Relevance on Economy, Ideology and Religion in Modern Day India - Dissertation Example

? What Is Mohandas Mahatma Gandhi's Relevance on Economy, Ideology and Religion in Modern Day India? College: IntroductionMohandas Karamchand Gandhi is a very significant leader in India’s history who was born in 1869 and died in 1948. Gandhi was passionate about India’s political freedom even in a foreign country. For instance, he took part in political protests in South Africa against the ill-treatment of Indians in that region by the prevailing government. Gandhi believed that the weak should not be oppressed by those in power and was against any political system that was oppressive1 Although Gandhi was actively persuading Indians to resist British ideologies, he was against any form of violence. He encouraged Indians to protest peacefully against British political and economic systems as well as the British approach to religion and morality. Gandhi’s ideologies led to his imprisonment on several occasions. However, many leaders made reference to his ideologies that promoted cohesion, peace and love among individuals and religions. He was assassinated for his belief by a fellow Hindu who was against his beliefs about the Muslims.2 Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi made a significant contribution to India’s economy through his ideologies and campaign for an independent economy. Many Indians supported his religious, political and economic beliefs. Gandhi was against discrimination and violation of human rights. He campaigned for unity and resistance against westernisation. His efforts yield fruits and India’s economy achieved significant levels of growth and independence. For instance, exports of India’s resources such as raw materials to England ceased and Indian began to exploit its own resources for its own benefit. 3This paper examines Gandhi’s ideologies, religious beliefs and economic contribution to determine his relevance to modern India. The Relevance of Gandhi’s Economic Ideas, Ideologies and Religious Beliefs to Modern India Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi played an important role in freeing India from British colonialism. Gandhi had a political vision of a free country that had control over all its sectors including social, economic, and political sectors in India. Gandhi’s vision had a moral and economic perspective of what India would be as a free country.4 Gandhi’s personal philosophies and beliefs were adopted in many political systems across the world. For instance, human rights activists in the United States based their movements on Gandhi’s philosophies. The relevance of Gandhi’s philosophies and beliefs to modern societies has been ignored until recently. Political analysts and historians are examining the state of nations to determine if Gandhi’s ideologies are still applicable to modern societies. Gandhi was determined to lay down a foundation that would unite Indians towards achieving their economic freedom. His ideology was to prepare Indians for a self-sustaining economy.5 Gandhi was against adopting a Western economic model and according to him; such a model would not help Indian establish an egalitarian and independent economy. Gandhi argued that with the high population growth rate and poverty levels in India, a consumer economy as suggested by western countries was inappropriate. His idea of an independent economy in India was based on conservation and systematic exploitation of natural resources. Consumerism would harm India’s given its demographics and Gandhi advocated for limited consumption of the scarce resources in the country. One of Gandhi’s concerns about India’s economy was the state of the agricultural sector. He believed that agriculture would help India achieve significant economic growth. However, his idea of a sustainable agricultural sector involved exploiting the readily available human resources as opposed to importing technology from the west.6 Gandhi’s speeches on India’s economic welfare indicated his passion for the nationals to recognise and exploit India’s economic strengths. Despite the economic challenges that India was experiencing, Gandhi believed that maximum exploitation of natural resources, indigenous products as well as Indian industries would bring about an economic revolution in the country. As an ambassador of indigenous industries and products, his attires were made of indigenous cotton. The textile industry is one of the indigenous industries that Gandhi believed would create employment for the nationals especially in the rural areas. Indians living in rural areas would not need to migrate to urban centres in search of jobs. This means that if India adopted Gandhi’s ideology of economic growth and employment, the country would achieve both goals without experiencing the challenges associated with increased urbanisation.7 Gandhi argued that if India developed its indigenous industries, it would reduce its dependence on imported products and raw materials. For instance, developing the cotton industry would reduce the country’s dependence on imported synthetic fibres. This would also improve India’s balance of trade. However, some of Gandhi’s ideas on India’s economic welfare were controversial and irrelevant to the modern India. While many Indians were striving to achieve higher standards of living, Gandhi advocated for a simple life that would only satisfy the basic needs. For instance, he believed that Indians should learn how to walk instead of aspiring to buy cars given the state of the economy. In his argument, the state of India’s economy would not allow every individual to use cars as their means of transportation. This ideology is irrelevant to modern India where reliable transportation means are necessary for the movement of goods and services.8 Gandhi’s idea of exploiting natural resources and indigenous resources is relevant to modern. India has a high population and a significant proportion of this population is living in poverty. India has limited resources but exploiting its agricultural potential as Gandhi suggested would have a significant impact on economic growth. Gandhi’s ideology of India resisting any imported technological development is irrelevant to modern India. The modern India is pursuing technological development as sophisticated technology increased efficiency in industries and organisations as well. The level of production and efficiency in India is largely dependent on the state of technology, which in turn affects its global competitiveness. Globalisation has made it easy for countries to share advanced technology and if India was to adopt Gandhi’s idea of resisting western economic models, it would lose its competitiveness in the global economic landscape.9 Gandhi’s perspective of making economic decisions in a country was based on his moral and religious. His idea was that an economy should be organised in small scale and local initiatives as opposed large scale economies. Gandhi’s idea of economic decision making was that small communities should be allowed to make their own decisions. His understanding of wealth is that it resides in an individual’s spiritual well being and not material wealth. He never provided a comprehensive plan of economic development in a country because he believed that by doing that he would be imposing his will on others. Gandhi believed that individuals should not impose their will on others but instead every individual should be allowed to make his or her own plans and decisions including economic decisions. Gandhi’s ideas of economic development critique the modern approach to economics in India. The country has embraced globalisation and has adopted economic models from the west and other countries as well.10 After India gained its independence, political leaders did not pay much attention to Gandhi’s perspectives of economic development. The government makes economic decisions that affect all individuals as opposed to Gandhi’s idea that each individual should make his or her own decisions. The government treats India’s economy as a whole instead of segregating into small units as Gandhi suggested. Some of Gandhi’s ideas on economic development are still relevant to modern India because they force economists to reconsider their assumptions. Economists are forced to modify their theories and provide more relevant frameworks that foster economic growth and addressing environmental degradation as well as poverty. Elimination of poverty through economic empowerment was one of Gandhi’s major concerns and he believed that a small scale approach to economic decision making would empower individuals to raise their standard of living.11 After independence, India adopted industrialisation as its channel of economic freedom instead of Gandhi’s idea of localisation. Gandhi’s economics have inspired different groups such as Chipko movement and the Narmada protest to speak against environmental degradation. Such protests are viewed as contentions between the poor and the rich in India. They are also opposed to global economies and invasion of multinationals in India. If Gandhi’s ideas are adopted, they can help modern economics to shift their focus to individual needs instead of a macroeconomic approach to decision making. His ideas can also lead to sustainable development because individual will consider the impact of the economic activities to the environment.12 With the encouragement of Gandhi, Indians invested in small scale business which soon grew into large scale industries. The small scale business became the foundation of economic growth in India. Industrialisation led India’s economic freedom but the state and foundation of its economic growth changed after independence to include foreign trade. This was a deviation from Gandhi’s ideologies that India should not engage in foreign trade but instead use every resource and product for its own benefit. Part of these ideologies have been adopted in India and many industries use Indian capital and resources in the production processes. Once the economy of India was established, the country began to export its products to other countries. Gandhi’s economic ideas were necessary to establish the foundation of India’s economy and provide employment for its masses before engaging in international trade.13 Mahatma Gandhi had an interest in comparing ideas from different religions. India was rooted in spirituality and religion. In his book ‘Experiments with Truth’, Gandhi demonstrated his interest in comparing religions. He was opposed to any form of religious teachings that were inconsistent with morality.14 According to Gandhi, religion cannot be separated from morality. His religion has been described as a combination of many theological teachings and religious beliefs. Gandhi offered advice to people from all religions without discrimination. He spent much of time trying to create harmony between Hindus and Muslims. According to Gandhi, all individuals are equal and should not be discriminated based on their religion. He encouraged people to understand other faiths and respect different religions because truth could be found in different sources. 15 As a Hindu, Gandhi was outspoken about his religious background and considered it to be the most tolerant religion. However, Gandhi held a high regard for other religions including Christianity, Hinduism, and Buddhism. He argued that different religions led to one ultimate goal and thus, there was no need for contentions and disunity among people of different religions. Gandhi’s religious beliefs largely influenced his political, moral, social and economic beliefs. His religious beliefs included love and peace. These acted as his motivation for a non-violent resistance to British rules in India. Gandhi advocated for tolerance among religions arguing that only way to serve Truth (God) is through different paths. 16 The current constitution in India has adopted a similar perspective to religion as Gandhi. The constitution outlines that all individuals have freedom to propagate and profess religion.17 Political leaders have deviated from the traditional Indian approach to governance where religious beliefs played a significant role in policy making. Some of these leaders have opted for a secular approach to leadership that does not recognise the role of religion. Some of secular political leaders consider Gandhi’s ideas of applying religious beliefs to governance as backward. Gandhi has been blamed for a failed political revolution in India and this has limited the application of his teachings to modern India. Secular politicians argued that adopting Gandhi ideas in modern India is impractical. 18 Gandhi could not separate religion from politics. He argued that religion should guide politics and how political leaders treat the masses.19 Gandhi freed himself from experts’ interpretations of religion. In one of his writings in Young India, Gandhi admitted that although he did not have first hand information on all religious texts, he would not agree to be bound by any interpretation. Most of interpretations of religious beliefs at that time seemed to favour some religions and some of the interpretations were against moral sense. 20 Gandhi’s ideology of non-violence is relevant to build the character of young people especially in school. Young people are exposed to a culture of violence as a means of survival but teachers can use Gandhi’s to mould the character of students at an early age. 21 Gandhi’s religious views are still applicable to modern India. Harmonious living requires that individuals respect each other’s religious beliefs and as indicated earlier, the government has established laws to ensure that all religions are respected. Gandhi stood for love and justice and these virtues are still fundamental to modern India. 22Analysts differ in opinion on the validity and relevance of Gandhi’s teachings. Some argue that his teachings and ideas are misleading. Gandhi’s simplicity is considered to have no reference to abstract philosophies. Gandhi’s teachings can only be applied selectively to modern economies. Different political and social contexts require different ideologies. Although some of Gandhi’s teachings are relevant to modern economies, some are outdated and irrelevant. 23 Gandhi’s opposition to war is considered as a deviation from political idealism. Gandhi did not want to offer moral guidance on how war should be conducted since such guidance would involve contending with political idealism.24 Gandhi took a moral stand and his struggle against the British governance in India was a struggle between different moral values. He advocated for a common value system. Moral values are still relevant to modern societies especially in governance. An application of Gandhi’s teaching would lead to better governance where leaders consider the impact of their decisions on their followers. 25Gandhi’s response to realistic violence would lead to better international relations today. Individual groups within a country do not need to engage in violence to resist an oppressive government. Nations can negotiate for better relations without considering violence and the resultant loss of lives as their principle way of communication. 26Modern societies are faced with challenges of differing political, religious, and cultural diversity that threaten to tear them apart. Political and religious contentions have posed threats to modern societies and some of those contentions have resulted in violence. Gandhi’s ideologies offer some hope to modern societies. He addressed different aspects of political, social and cultural settings that would lead to contentions in society. If applied effectively, his teaching would help in eliminating some of the problems that societies are facing today.27 Gandhi’s ideologies concerning leadership are not only relevant to modern India but to other societies as well. His ideas are classic and universal. His stand for truth is needed in most if not all societies across the globe to cure the rampart ills. His vision was to campaign for human morals not only in India but in other nations as well. The weak are oppressed in many societies and leaders with a vision for peace and love such as Gandhi are needed today.28 Gandhi’s thoughts and actions will remain relevant even in the coming centuries. They transcend place and time. Equality of religions, non-violence, truth, social justice, self reliance, freedom, education and dignity of labour are some of the ideologies that will remain relevant to societies including Indian communities for many years. If future governments adopt Gandhi’s ideas and thought, the money spent in wars and in buying armaments will be saved. This money can be used to improve the living standards of populations and create a better social order in the world. 29 Conclusion Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi played a significant role in shaping the political, social, moral and economic conditions in India and in other nations across the world. He actively participated in India’s struggle against the British colonialism but encouraged his supporters to use a non-violence approach in the protest. His ideologies of protesting against oppressive leadership styles were adopted in other movements. Gandhi advocate for peace, truth, love and equal treatment of individuals irrespective of their background. Gandhi believed that India should exploit its own natural resources to achieve economic growth instead of adopting the western ideologies of economic growth. He advocated to small scale industries, agriculture, and the textiles industries. These would create employment for India’s high population and help the country eliminate poverty. As a Hindu, he was outspoken about religious beliefs and his belief in Hinduism. However, he believed that all religions should be treated equally and this position led to his assassination. Gandhi advocated for moral values in political and economic systems. He believed that moral values should be applied in all aspects of the economy. Analysts differ on the relevance of Gandhi’s teachings and ideologies to modern economies. Some argue that his ideologies are outdated and inapplicable to the current way of life. However, some analysts believe that Gandhi’s ideologies are eternally relevant and can be used to eliminate some of the current ills in societies. Equality of religions, non-violence, truth, social justice, self reliance, freedom, education and dignity of labour are some of the ideologies that will remain relevant to societies including Indian communities for many years. 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