Panchayat Raj and Mahatma Gandhi

[Prof. Dr. Yogendra Yadav]

Prof. Dr. Yogendra Yadav

Senior Gandhian Scholar, Professor, Editor and Linguist

Gandhi International Study and Research Institute, Jalgaon, Maharashtra, India

Contact No. – 09404955338, 09415777229

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Panchayat Raj and Mahatma Gandhi

 

 

Democracy requires everyone, man or woman, to realize his or her responsibility. This is what is meant by Panchayat raj. A single limb of the body ceasing to function properly throws the whole body mechanism out of gear. Similarly, the whole of India is one body and we are its limbs. If we become lax, the whole country would be affected likewise. That is why I lay so much stress on the need for discipline at meetings, on trains or on railway platforms. It is on such occasions that we are tested. I go so far as to say that if we had learnt to keep order at gatherings of hundreds of thousands, riots like those in Bihar would not have occurred. Today, the smallest disturbance is given a communal colour, with the result that it provides an opportunity for a communal flare-up. Volunteers, therefore, should understand this and educate the people to keep order at meetings, etc. This will not be accomplished by merely attempting it when meetings are actually being held. Training in this respect must find its way into the very homes of the people. I would suggest that they tell the people that yesterday’s meeting failed in its purpose because of the noise, and that in order to have me again in their midst they must learn to keep silence. I become apprehensive about our future when I see slackness around me in everything. Lethargic people can never accomplish anything, nor can they develop courage. We have to be vigilant if we desire to raise independent India to the highest position in the world. 1

I think that some very few exist even today, though not in the full sense of the term. They are certainly moving in that direction. It can, however, be asked whether the present rajas and others can be expected to become trustees of the poor. I think it is worth while entertaining such a hope. If they do not become trustees of their own accord, force of circumstances will compel the reform unless they court utter destruction. When Panchayat Raj is established, public opinion will do what violence can never do. The present power of the zamindars, the capitalists and the rajas can hold sway only so long as the common people do not realize their own strength. If the people non-co-operate, what can a raja, a zamindar or a capitalist do? In a Panchayat Raj only the Panchayat will be obeyed and a Panchayat can work only through the law of its making. If the Panchayat follows non-violence in conducting its business, all the three would become trustees by law and if it resorts to violence it would mean the end of their power. 2 

This uncrowned king is at your service. Should he put down your disturbances with bullets? If today he suppresses one person, he will have tomorrow to act similarly in another case. And that would not be swaraj, not Panchayat raj either. Only when you remain disciplined will Jawaharlal be able to lead us and our freedom is safe. 3 I do not know how far it is right to present the Government servants in this light. But I would certainly say that none from amongst us should resort to black-marketing. If there are some Government officers who give to their favorites twice or thrice the number of ration cards that their families are entitled to, those who receive these cards and those who give them are both guilty. It is possible that hitherto things could go on because of the awe of the British. But if this state of affairs continues even now, God alone can save India. But such things should not continue now. Today it is not necessary to act according to the order of the boss, regardless of whether it is fair or unfair. We are not under foreign bosses any more. Rajendra Babu cannot issue orders in this way. He does not have under him the police that would force people to accept orders. Even Rajaji or Nehru or the Sardar cannot compel people to obey their orders through force. Sardar Baldev Singh does have the army under him but even he cannot threaten to have the entire military force cracking down on the people to subdue them. You could not remove the British officers, but you can remove these people. They can rule over you only by pleasing you. I wish to inform you that your Panchayat Raj has begun from today. It will be twelve months before we acquire full power. In the meantime, God alone knows what may or may not happen. But you must accept the method of democratic rule right from now. Let no one among us fill his stomach by harming the country. 4

Our Government in effect is a Panchayat Raj. The leaders represent the Panchayat. It is we who have made them leaders. That is why I say this is not the time to intimidate our Government by resorting to agitations. First and foremost, it is our own Government. It does not have the military strength which the British used to have in India. The British had the entire Navy at their command, because of which it used to be said that they were invincible and unrivalled. It is another matter if that claim cannot hold good today. Whatever it is, they had everything at their command. By dint of that force they ruled over us. Now we are our own rulers. If we know that no other power is ruling over us and those who are ruling over us have been elected by us, we can also remove them. That is why I say that we should not take such an agitation approach. 5

If we wish to have Panchayat Raj the first rule is that we should follow its orders. We have not yet achieved the full benefits of Panchayat Raj. Had we been truly non-violent, this would not have been so. Even so, the British rule has ended. The Governor-General, though he is a high-ranking officer in the Navy and belongs to the royal family, has remained here as our servant. He has to go by the opinion of our cabinet of Ministers. He is not our master. Rather, we are his masters. Thus ours is a democratic government and we must all abide by the laws made by it. If anyone has any complaint against Government officers the remedy lies in approaching Government or getting the complaint published in the newspapers. If any officer has taken to bribery or is inefficient, action should be taken against him. Those who indulge in graft are committing a crime against themselves and against the country. Recently some military officers were found flogging people at the railway station. No officer has a right to flog anyone. But in retaliation if we also start whipping we fall victims to the same evil. Before independence, Government officers used to behave like our masters and not servants. They were loyal to the British Government, and if they took bribes in those days, they were committing a crime against the British Government. But if the officers take bribes now, they are committing a crime against India. There is such a lot of difference in this. 6 

They are happy if they get a small margin of profit. What have they got to do with scheming or black-marketing? And so, let me tell you, and through you the Government, that we should have at least that much faith in the people. Why do we not have the courage to scrap rationing? We need not fear any untoward consequences. Why have you assumed that people have become wicked and are hiding their food stocks? After all, you yourselves are the Government. You can again revert to controls if you find that the situation has worsened. There is no justification for making people suffer if you do not have that much courage. Things should be done according to the practice of Panchayat Raj. 7

If the Government says that decontrol will lead to starvation, and then I shall say that Panchayat Raj has not been established, democracy has not come to us that Ramarajya has not been established and it is for Ramarajya that I want to keep myself alive. I shall say that those who are made free from controls should have self-imposed controls on themselves and make others happy. The civil servants in the Government may call me names. They may say I have no right to interfere, that I have no experience of running a government, that afterwards it would be difficult to ramose the controls and feed the people. I shall say they are right. I have never been in the civil service, I have never run a government, but I have moved among the millions. I know their hearts. I understand them. 8 We have to create a superior, more advanced type of khadi worker. Not till then, shall Panchayat Raj become a reality. The workers of the Charkha Sangh are not there merely to earn a living for themselves or merely to distribute some wages to the spinners and weavers, etc., by way of poor relief. The only goal worthy of their ambition is to create a non-violent order of society. But, in this they have not made much headway. If our khadi workers are there for wages only, then we had better bid good-bye to the dream of realizing a non-violent social order. The success will depend on our uttermost purity. Impatience would be fatal. 9

What should we do then? If we would see Panchayat Raj, i. e., democracy established, we would regard the humblest and the lowliest Indian as being equally the ruler of India with the tallest in the land. For this everyone should be pure. If they are not they should become so. He who is pure will also be wise. He will observe no distinctions between caste and caste, between touchable and untouchable, but will consider everyone equal with himself. He will bind others to himself with love. To him no one would be an untouchable. He would treat the labourers the same as he would the capitalists. He will, like the millions of toilers, earn his living from service of others and will make no distinction between intellectual and manual work. To hasten this desirable consummation, we should voluntarily turn ourselves into scavengers. He who is wise will never touch opium, liquor or any intoxicants. He will observe the vow of swadeshi and regard every woman who is not his wife as his mother, sister or daughter according to her age, and never see anyone with eyes of lust. He will concede to woman the same rights he claims for himself. If need be he will, sacrifice his own life but never kill another. If he is a Sikh, he will, as taught by the Gurus, be as heroic “as one lakh and a quarter” of men and will not yield an inch. Such an Indian will not ask what his duty in the present hour is. 10

 

References:

 

1. Harijan Sevak, 1-6-1947
2. Harijan, 1-6-1947  
3. Prarthana Pravachan-I, pp. 111
4. Prarthana Pravachan–I pp. 118
5. Prarthana Pravachan—I, pp. 416
6. Prarthana Pravachan—I, pp. 424
7. Prarthana Pravachan—I, pp. 428
8. Speech at Prayer Meeting, December 5, 1947
9. Mahatma, Vol. VIII, pp. 279
10. Harijanbandhu, 18-1-1948