Gandhism ideology in contemporary period

Gandhism ideology in contemporary period:

Gandhian democracy is still relevant in India. It is clear from the 73rd amendment of Indian constitution. That amendment is related only with rural administration of India. One noteworthy provision of that amendment is decentralization of power up to the rural level. That amendment has already been implemented in India. Gandhian systems are mostly following by the Indian people to fulfil different demands. Gandhi's philosophy of life is applicable to all humanity. He did not reserve any afford in serving India and humanity and sacrificed even his life. He was a forager, a manual labour, an economist, a politician, a religious man, a lover of humanity and above all a Mahatma. Gandhi's life and ideologies are great message to humankind.

In Gandhian creed, the first principle which guided all his thoughts and activities is the complete unity and integrity of body, mind and soul in the individual human being. Gandhiji never tried to speak that the body should be controlled by the mind and the mind by the soul. But this control is not to be accomplished by neglecting either the body or the mind or in the mystic exhilaration of the soul by itself. He attached to physical health and well-being as much importance as to plain and logical thinking or moral responsibility. He was one of the most logical and influential writers.

It has been observed that the greatest attainment of Gandhi was the spiritualization of politics. This is unquestionably true; but he had no faith in religiousness by itself as an abstract virtue. He considered it as a kind of brightness which should accompany every thought and action. It is difficult to define it through the verses of the Bhagavad-Gita which constituted his daily prayer. The second principle of Gandhian viewpoint is that all social action should be governed by the same simple set of moral values, of which the main elements are selflessness, non-attachment, nonviolence and active service. He believed that the development of a man's personality is balanced to his faith in and practice of these virtues. This is possible only when he identifies himself more and more with an ever-increasing circle till it grips all humanity and even all living beings. He judged the value and vivacity of social institutions by their capacity to foster such progress.

His third conviction was that no society, state or any other institution has any worth or importance apart from its part in contributing to the development of the individuals of which it is composed. The State, the Nation, the community and other traditional groupings had no inherent value for him.

Gandhiji had firm belief that means are at least as important as, and often even more important than, ends. It is, of course, desirable that ends should be good and reasonable. But they merely give a direction to life while the means adopted constitute life itself. Therefore, if the means are right, that is, if they conform to the tests of truth and nonviolence, even mistakes, errors and failures aid the growth of the individual. On the other hand, wrong means unethical the soul and no good can ever come out of them. Gandhi rejected emphatically the idea that ends justify the means. This implies the rejection of war, espionage and crooked diplomacy, even when they are accepted for the noble ends of defending the country, religion or humanity.

According to Gandhi, faith in God is the groundwork of all moral values. He never defined God and was prepared to allow every person to have his own idea of God. He was motivated to think of Him as the Upanishadic Brahman. But, so long as a person believes in some source of spiritual life and holds it superior to the material universe, he is a believer in God. Gandhi had no objection even to a formal profession of doubt, so long as a person established by his attachment to moral values that this viewpoint was essentially spiritual in spirit.

To summarize, Gandhism is a dominant political ideology that made immense transformation in the arena of political science. Gandhi is one of the great activist-theoreticians of the twentieth century. His writings arose during the varied process of social, economic and political actions. Gandhism represents a humanitarian world view. The idea is devoted to the transformation of the society for betterment and for the raising the standard of poor people in the society. Gandhi believed in humanity and equality (Teacher Forum, 2014). Basic tools of Gandhi ji for developing noble society and get rid of political turmoil, is satygrah, nonviolence.

According to Gandhi, Satyagraha is based on a philosophical respect for law and is resorted to non-violently and publicly. The Satyagrahi keenly accepts full penalties, including the rigours of jail discipline as resistance is respectful and restrained, undertaken by law-abiding citizens. Gandhi claims that 'disobedience without civility, discipline, discrimination and non-violence is certain destruction'. A satyagrahi accepts personal responsibility publicly. He must inform the concerned government official(s) about the time and place of the act, the reasons for protest and if possible, the law that would be defied. Gandhi asserts on the need to anchor power and authority in the supreme values of satya, ahimsa and dharma to guarantee that politics eventually is service of all people in general and the underprivileged and the marginalised in particular. The uniqueness of Gandhism ideologies is that Gandhiji desires social and political transformation through non-violent means. He also provides a revelation of his model and accepts modifications to this ideal on grounds of viability.