(From Swami)
A pacifist Mahatma Gandhi was a pawn in a larger puppeteering game where the strings were craftily maneuvered by the British. Gandhi was the ideal choice for the British to manipulate as he was the singular voice of pacifism in opposition to the said British empire. Of all the freedom warriors who rose up in India against the British Raj – Gandhi was the one who did not want militant resistance, and in fact advocated for pacificism, as a peaceful resolution against the brutal, draconian and inhumane British tactics of rule.
Amidst the rising militant freedom fighters of India, the British continued its last ditch attempts to exploit cheap labour and hereby coaxed gullible, destitute Indians (made so by the very British) to journey to the Caribbean, with promises of an improved standard of life.
In order to keep Indian in perpetual check, the British foisted Mahatma Gandhi as the paragon of the freedom movement. This they did knowing that if Indians idolized him (Gandhi), the Indian diaspora would revere Ahimsa – (erroneously translated as non-violence) and never rise up with any form of armed resistance. A tactic that is working to this very day and employed by successors to the British empire.
In the Caribbean, the British made certain that the real Indian struggle and its history is never taught in any schools and access denied to all who seek to know it. The British system of education is to teach what they want you to learn and discredit all our sources of information. Tactics still employed by Caribbean news media in witting or unwitting posturing.
The diaspora is purposely fed Ahimsa doctrines and Mahatma Gandhi is posted as the ideal. The names of freedom fighters like Veer Savarkar, Sri Aurobindo, Bal Tilak, Subhash Chandra Bose, MS Golwakar and many others were suppressed by the British raj, who merely wanted to promote compliance and obedience.
Caribbean leaders taking cue from the Mahatma Gandhi model became mediocre, servile to the British, and docile in their stance against any atrocities and political injustices. So much so that they gleefully aggrandize themselves as being a ‘Gandhian politician.’ A position that has made the Indian diaspora into second and third class citizens, despite their illustrious contribution to society.
Samaroo Avatar
advocate for socio-religious reform,
freelance writer, author and mythology researcher.