Gandhigiri
So it takes the buffoonery of the convicted-and-on-parole actor Sanjay Dutt and his eccentric side-kick speaking Mumbai's own version of 'gangsta' English viz., tapori Hindi, to remind a nation of the Mahatma and his methods.
Not surprising really, given that we have duly apotheosized the old man, and consigned his principles and ideas to oblivion by sanctifying them. No one says that his methods are ineffective; no one even seems to discuss them any more. But others after him, most notably Reverend Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela, have drawn inspiration from his example and adapted his methods; the later against the very brutal apartheid regime.
And yet, the universality of Gandhi's methods is far from a given. Would European Jewry, for instance, been able to gain anything at all by employing his methods against the Nazis? And how is one supposed to employ Gandhian principles to counter those nameless, faceless, mindless butchers we know as terrorists? And yet, one could argue that a sincere adherence to Gandhian ideals would do a great deal to redress the socio-political grievances that breed fanaticism and terrorism.
For example, adherence to Gandhi's commitment to democracy, if practised in the Kashmir of the early 1980s, could perhaps have prevented the state from spiralling into terrorism? It could also be argued that Gandhi's uniquely religious-secularism and moral principles have so much 'Hindu-Indian' psycho-cultural baggage that they may not work elsewhere in the world? And at the same time, the parallels between Gandhi's methods and Jesus' teaching about 'turning the other cheek' are too obvious to be ignored.
More questions than answers arise out of these speculations. But perhaps it is necessary for civic society to ask these questions and ponder over the answers. Especially today, 02 October.