Understanding ‘Responsibility’
“We, the Responsible People" was the theme of the conference organized by Amit Sachdeva and Mugdha Arora on the eve of the Gandhi Jayanti (October 1) on the interface of CSR, ESG and SDGs by corporates in the quest for creating a better world. As I was privileged to receive the Mahatma Award at the Conference, I am sharing with my readers the main points of the acceptance speech made on the occasion.
Responsibility with regard to Education
The first point was about the Mahatma’s call to take responsibility for giving a practical shape to one's beliefs and convictions rather than depend on a government institution or the benevolence of a benefactor. When the Mahatma asked students to boycott educational institutions established /recognized by the British (including the BHU), he followed it up with the initiative of establishing alternate institutions, which he called Vidyapeeths. He wanted his countrymen to be responsible not only for what they were learning, but also how they were learning. The focus was not limited to the content: the pedagogy too had to bear the stamp of responsibility. Therefore, unlike the conventional rote learning in the government schools and colleges, the Vidyapeeths established in the Gandhian tradition (Kashi, Gujarat and Wardha) sent out the students to promote Khadi, teach the alphabet of the Bhashas of Bharat to the villagers, take practical steps to eradicate the scourge of untouchability.
Empirical evidence to back Demands
Again, the Mahatma was the first political leader who mustered empirical evidence to argue out his case with a high degree of responsibility. His appeal to the Collector of Champaran against the indigo tax imposition was not based on an emotional appeal, but a rational argument. The Champaran Satyagrah of 1917 was India's first civil disobedience movement – and became the template for the subsequent agitations. The emphasis was on collection of facts based on an open enquiry in which everyone was invited to share their facts. Volunteers fanned out to villages to collect evidence backed by rent receipts, or sworn statements when farmers averred that they had not been given receipts. In fact, even after the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, the Congress under Gandhi did not come out with an arbitrary figure – it based the number of deaths, missing and injuries after an investigation and a fact finding committee. Again, before the Dandi march and the salt Satyagraha, he listed the various sources of revenue for the British in India, and how the iniquitous tax was casting a very heavy burden on the poorest sections of Indian society. Before he launched the agitation, he gave a detailed representation to the British government, and also gave them time to review their decision. Likewise in the textile workers strike, he suggested that discussions be held on the basis of verified facts.
Practicing his own precepts
The third example of responsibility was ‘practicing his own precepts’. When it came to removal of untouchability, he probed deeper, and realized that this was also because society at large was not appreciative enough of the very important task of scavenging and the cleaning of dry latrines. Simply stating that no task was high or low, he took up the task of cleaning toilets by himself. Not just his own toilets, but also the ‘for-public-use’ toilets in Sabarmati Ashram when specific days were marked for each and every Ashramite for this task. And there were no exceptions. In fact, he was unwilling to make a concession even to Ba, whose conservative upbringing had caused an initial revulsion in her to clean the toilets of inmates, other than her own immediate family members. When Mulk Raj Anand met him in England to seek his advice on the theme for a ‘novel’ on India’s freedom movement, he asked him to pen his first book on the scourge of untouchability, followed by books on tea plantation workers. Thus merged the Anand trilogy of Untouchable, Two leaves and a Bud and Coolie. Again, when Gokhale asked him to understand the Indian reality by travelling across the country, he did so by travelling third class. This gave him an idea of the pathetic condition under which the ordinary mass of Indians travelled. It may be mentioned here that prior to this, the leaders of the Indian National Congress – from Gokhale to Tilak to SN Banerjee had travelled across the country, but preferred the first or the interclass. He wrote extensively about third class travel, and Lal Bahadur Shastri acknowledges that the major reforms in the railways came about because of the writings of Gandhi, as well as his own experiences of third class travel.
Unpopular Decisions
Last, but not the least – being responsible also meant taking unpopular decisions if they went against foundational principles. Thus the Civil Disobedience movement was withdrawn when 22 policemen were killed at the police station at Chauri Chaura. He did plead for Bhagat Singh’s life with Lord Irwin on the ground that ‘no human being had the right to take another life’. He did not endorse violence, and this did mean that he had to face black flags, but a responsible leader does not change his position to suit his audience. While the political leadership of the Congress and the Muslim League were celebrating the independence of India and Pakistan, the Mahatma regarded this as a day of mourning – for in his view, freedom in the real sense meant being responsible for actions which impacted the immediate neighborhood – the family, the community and the village, and he was appalled by the level of violence that had been unleashed by the communal forces. So he chose to fast and pray, for he was convinced that one must walk the talk.
Engage in Dialogue
May all of us who invoke the Mahatma also have the courage and conviction to follow his footsteps. To me his legacy is one of being able to face inconvenient truths and regarding no one as a permanent and long term adversary. Even when his views were polar opposite, he continued to engage with Dr Ambedkar and MA Jinnah – because he also believed that the only way to resolve outstanding issues was long and engaged conversation – for even if one did not agree with the other’s viewpoint, it was important to understand why such a viewpoint prevailed.
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