Gandhism – A false Ideology
Yesterday, I was reading Vikatan and came across an article ''யாருக்கும் வெட்கம் இல்லை' ஜூ.வி. இதழில் தமிழருவி மணியன்;
The author was belligerent about a proposal to increase politicians’ salary. As any good Indian he references lots of material involving Gandhi and demands that the politicians should work for free and states that politics is social work and couldn’t contemplate the idea of money in politics.
Over the past 50 years, starting with Nehru our politicians has done some great work to hijack Mahatma Gandhi’s principle into a false ideology. Like Marxism, Mahatma Gandhi did propose a new political philosophy, there is no denying it, but even the guy who was handpicked by Mahatma Gandhi didn’t follow his principle. He did make sure to use the name and manipulate his principle into something which is totally different from what Mahatma Gandhi preached.
One of the biggest beliefs with the so called Mahatma Gandhi’s followers is that to be a good politician you have to follow Asceticism. I don’t think that there is any link between Asceticism and politics. Jaya’s one rupee salary, Lallu’s idea to use cycle for transportation, Kadhar cloths, and innumerous other stunts like these are part of “Gandhism” which our politicians have utilized to its core. Politics is a job; you are entrusted with running a state, which requires skill and knowledge not asceticism.
The respect our society has for asceticism was the downfall for India back when the Muslim and British invaded our country and it’s the same now. There are many issues which I don’t agree with Mahatma (doesn’t mean I disrespect him) one such idea is a life of asceticism in a material world. Asceticism is a life for Sanyasi, not for everyone.
To get back to my point, let’s pay these MLAs and MPs liberally. In my view they should be the highest paid workers. May be that will be good start to control corruption.
The author was belligerent about a proposal to increase politicians’ salary. As any good Indian he references lots of material involving Gandhi and demands that the politicians should work for free and states that politics is social work and couldn’t contemplate the idea of money in politics.
Over the past 50 years, starting with Nehru our politicians has done some great work to hijack Mahatma Gandhi’s principle into a false ideology. Like Marxism, Mahatma Gandhi did propose a new political philosophy, there is no denying it, but even the guy who was handpicked by Mahatma Gandhi didn’t follow his principle. He did make sure to use the name and manipulate his principle into something which is totally different from what Mahatma Gandhi preached.
One of the biggest beliefs with the so called Mahatma Gandhi’s followers is that to be a good politician you have to follow Asceticism. I don’t think that there is any link between Asceticism and politics. Jaya’s one rupee salary, Lallu’s idea to use cycle for transportation, Kadhar cloths, and innumerous other stunts like these are part of “Gandhism” which our politicians have utilized to its core. Politics is a job; you are entrusted with running a state, which requires skill and knowledge not asceticism.
The respect our society has for asceticism was the downfall for India back when the Muslim and British invaded our country and it’s the same now. There are many issues which I don’t agree with Mahatma (doesn’t mean I disrespect him) one such idea is a life of asceticism in a material world. Asceticism is a life for Sanyasi, not for everyone.
To get back to my point, let’s pay these MLAs and MPs liberally. In my view they should be the highest paid workers. May be that will be good start to control corruption.
Comments
well, they say that deep pockets are never filled; no matter how well we pay our politicians, they have an eye on money n power way beyond any salary we can give them..yeahhhh, but if we pay them more, atleast there is some kinda justification for all the benz cars n villas they een otherwise possess on their supposedly peanut salary!
in my line of work, i get in touch with a lot of ministers, their sons n some of teh entrepreneurial ventures(started to park their black money)--> believe me, they spin way too much money than one can imagine!!
ps:
how's ya son???:)
I agree with you, except for this one:
\\Muslim and British invaded our country \\
If Mughals are called 'Muslims', the British should be called 'Christians' right? Call Mughals as Mughals and not Muslims, please.
For example, reading these lines it appears that all Muslims in India are Mughals, which is certainly not true. :)
Let us not paint a religious picture to a political issue. Being a Muslim, I must say that the Mughals never acted in a way Islam has asked them to do.
FYI, Muslims came to India way before the Mughals as traders and the religion spread here peacefully. And they first came to Kerala and Tamil Nadu. You can google for Cheraman Perumal Mosque in Kerala and a more than 1000 year old mosque in Thengapattinam, Tamil Nadu to know more..
Thanks for visiting my blog and do appreciate your comment here even more. I did visit your blog couple of time, but choose not to post my views, because they were in contradiction with your opinion. I for one am open to any views, because I feel that debate is one of the better ways to learn. I hope you feel the same way and also, that you are open to my views without any confinement.
Also, in my reply I am not going to compare Hinduism against Islam, not because of my knowledge or interest, (lately that has become my bread and butter) but mainly because that’s irrelevant to this argument.
Question – Why did I call Mughals as Muslims and not British as Christians?
This is really an excellent question, and frankly I didn’t even notice that until you brought it up. But to answer your question, I have to dig deep into my mind on why it thinks that way
Islam is a religion of brotherhood. You either belong to the brotherhood or not. You are either a believer or a kafir. In Islam your religion identifies who you are, not where you are from. That’s the reason, India got split three ways and I hope you agree that Jinnah is directly responsible for that. Now if in this stage, you believe that Jinnah was right in demanding a separate nation then do state that in your reply, let’s then analyze why you think that way?
Continuing on, along with Jinnah my mind still holds that majority of Muslim were responsible for the split. Now people keep reminding me, that this is only a select few and a silent majority still supports India. Then why do I see all these bombings and what not. I agree there is a silent majority in Muslim community; this silent majority is sympathetic to fellow Muslims because they come under their brotherhood which has a thicker bond than that of a fellow countrymen.
On Christianity, there is a totally different view. They spread religion and religion alone. May be one day they will try to take us over as a whole, I don’t know but right now there principle is to convert you to Christianity and it ends right there. So when Paul Dinakaran comes to Marina Beach and starts talking about miracle and why everyone should follow Christianity, I get equally mad. But there I as a Hindu failed to educate my people on my religion. That’s my mistake not his. He is not telling Christians to revolt against India right? He is trying to sell his religion.
So to answer your question, my mind still holds Muslims responsible for splitting my country. It doesn’t differentiate Mughals or some other sub sect. It doesn’t think that way about British (Christians), because I didn’t see Christ-istan yet.