Hind Swaraj

Hind Swaraj: A Reflection of Nationalism

Hind Swaraj when translated in English means Indian Home Rule is written by Mohandas K. Gandhi in the year 1909 while Gandhi is aboard the SS Kildonan Castle on his way to South Africa. The book is written in a form of conversation between a reader and an editor. Gandhis view is conveyed through the editors view while the reader is probing the editor with his own thoughts and of providing him with thought provoking question. The Book was written at a time that India is under the British rule. The country had experienced political unrest and had undergone a series of divisions under the British rule. Hind Swaraj is a reflection of a nationalistic view in a way that it is tellings its readers that it is time that the Indian people to rule over India by themselves without interference from anyone especially that of the British to whom they are under its rule.

India became an English colony in the year 1858 and it had regained its independence in the year 1947. At the time the book is written, the country is being run by the Englishmen while political unrest had mired the Indian countryside. Corruption is rampant for the reason that some of the men in the government have their interest at heart while there are also men government officials who prioritize their own interest rather than that of the country. They disregard the needs of the people who are relying on them. During this time, the Indian citizens do not have a say on how their government is run. All of the citizens are under the British authority. This did not sit well with Gandhi. He does not want the British to have the full power and authority over them. Not anymore. He thinks that it is time for the British to hand over the governments rein to them for he had seen the devastating effect of the British rule. He had seen the depletion of their natural resources and on how civilization that the British brought with them did not made the necessary improvements that they thought it would. The book is his way of telling his own countrymen that its time that they unified against the British. It is time to think as one.

Gandhi believes in Home Rule and of letting his own countrymen to run their own government. The book is written to highlight the not so good consequence of civilization, how it had changed the government and on how the modern day amenities is not a solution to the problems that the Indian government and the people is facing. It describes the ills and evils of Western civilization, including oppressive technology, in no uncertain terms.It is an extraordinary statement of machinery, on railways, on hospitals, on consumerism and on the Western way of life. Simple life and non-violence should be-and were-he though, the Indian way to Home Rule. (Panter-Brick, 2012)

Gandhi had shown his distaste over the interference of the British in his country and he made his distaste known through his writing and through this book. He had use his own language in writing this book for it is his intention to let his countrymen be aware of it and makes the necessary changes in the way that they are being govern and the way that their country is being run for them. In writing this book, he is showing his nationalism.

Gandhi does not want his fellowmen to get harm by the changes that he wants to happen. He wants a revolution but he wants he a bloodless one. Discontent has led to unrest, and the latter has brought about many deaths, many imprisonments, many banishments. Such a state of things will still continue. It must be so. All these may be considered good signs but they may also lead to bad results.” (Gandhi 24) He believes that it cannot obtain Home Rule through violence. You will have, therefore, to rely wholly on soul-force. You must not consider that violence is necessary at any stage for reaching our goal. ( Gandhi 65) Gandhis vision of non-violent nationalism held out the promise of achieving personal liberation as well as political self-rule while avoiding both the passive constitutionalism of the Indian National Congress and the violent insurrectionism of a growing band of militant Indian nationalists. (Steger 2000)

He wants the Englishmen to leave them alone but not literally. They can stay but they should not interfere on how their government is being run. He believes that his countrymen are capable of running their own government. He has faith in his people. We should, therefore, have no difficulty in carrying on the Government. (Gandhi 95) He had stated his reason for urging the Englishmen to leave from India. He said that Because India has become impoverished by their Government. They take away our money from year to year. The most important posts are reserved for themselves. We are kept in a state of slavery. They behaved insolently towards us and disregard our feelings. (Gandhi 25)

He had made it clear that it is not civilization that is the answer to their problem. Gandhi did not say that their way of life is better before the British had taken over the reins of the government but he reiterated that adapting the way of life of the Englishman is not a solution either for he had believed that they are better off by themselves. “Civilization is not an incurable disease, but it should never be forgotten that the English people are at present afflicted by it. (Gandhi, 30) Gandhi considers civilization as the reason why countries such as Britain acted the way it did. He wants to impart that everyone, every country is better off without it. For Gandhi. The Gujarati equivalent for civilization means good conduct.If this definition be correct, then India, as so many writers have shown, has nothing to learn from anybody else, and this is as it should be. (Gandhi 45) With the way the British are behaving towards them, Gandhi came to the conclusion that civilization is not doing them any good. And in adapting it, they did not become better. They are not even exercising good conduct as a civilized people should be. Civilization, in Gandhis definition, makes people look upon bodily welfare as the object of their lives. The society create by capitalism, democracy, science and technology is oriented toward the promotion of material progress, and is inevitably accompanied by selfishness, greed, and love of pleasure. (Baum 2001)

Gandhis nationalism goes well with democracy. He wants everyone to have the freedom to practice his own religion. When it comes to religion, Gandhi does not promote that one religion be observed by everyone. Rather, he is promoting that everyone should respect each others religion. It should not be a cause for strife. He believes that everyone can live in peace even if they do not have the same beliefs or they do not practice the same religion. For him “India cannot cease to be one nation because people belonging to different religions live in itThe Hindus, the Mahomedans, the Parsis and the Christians who have made India their country are fellow-countrymen, and they will have to live in unity, if only for their own interest. In no part of the world are one nationality and one religion synonymous terms; nor has it ever been so in India. (Gandhi 37) In essence, he wants everyone to have the freedom that they deserve but still able to maintain the unity that they suppose to have for living in the same country and for belonging in the same race which is the essence of nationalism.

Gandhi wants the British rule to stop over India. He wants the English to stop exploiting their land and to use it for their own benefits at the country and the peoples expense. He believed that India is better off alone. He does not want his countrymen to patronize the English, its rule, its superiority and its product. He is giving his countrymen to believe and to have faith in themselves. This is the essence of nationalism. He wants his own countrymen to carve their own future without the interference of anyone. He believes that they are capable of doing such. The message is clear: if Indians want to assume control over their nations future, they must rediscover the true essential qualities that make up genuine Indianness. This according to Gandhi is based on the spiritual athleticism of venerable ancestors who mastered their passions and appetites, controlled their physical desires and disciplined their bodies. (Goodman & James 2007)

Hind Swaraj is a reflection of nationalism. Mohandas Gandhi wants what is best for his country and it is through his book that he was able to convey his message. However, what he thinks is best for his country is not in consonance with what the British thinks is the best for India. They have different views which is the reason of the clash. A nationalistic individual wants what is best for his country and for his countrymen. Gandhi thinks that having his own countrymen to rule over their own country is what the country needs. Gandhis urging through his book Hind Swaraj is a reflection of Nationalism. His nationalism.