For Global Peace with Social Justice in a Sustainable Environment

Youth and Mahatma Gandhi - IX

Prof. Dr. Yogendra Yadav

Senior Gandhian Scholar, Professor, Editor and Linguist

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

Contact No. – 09404955338, 09415777229

E-mail- dr.yadav.yogendra@gandhifoundation.net;

dr.yogendragandhi@gmail.com

Mailing Address- C- 29, Swaraj Nagar, Panki, Kanpur- 208020, Uttar Pradesh, India

Youth and Mahatma Gandhi - IX

The youth of India need just now to learn the lesson of self-control, however painfully it may be. The condition of girls, too, is most extraordinary. How strange that a girl like, brought up in the Ashram, only fifteen years old and weak in body, should express a desire to get married? How is it that a girl of her age feels passion? But the whole atmosphere in our society is unclean. From their very childhood boys and girls are fed on impure suggestions. I would never consent to teach such boys and girls that it was right and proper to yield to passion. But I will not dwell further on this subject. 1 It was introduced there at the suggestion of a pure-hearted Muslim youth. That youth then passed away, so that for us the song has more in it than its literal meaning. The song was so dear to that youth that, when he came to the line “Yad kar tu ay Nazir kabronke roz” he used to substitute his name, Hasan, for Nazir’s Hasan was a frequent visitor to Phoenix. To me he was another son, and we sang that song not once but several times in Phoenix. Hasan played on the piano too, and he often sang it alone to the accompaniment of the piano while we listened. The choice of this bhajan is therefore excellent. Its meaning also is excellent. 2

We cannot expect from the older people the same spirit of renunciation that has been awakened in the youth of this era. I have no doubt that your total renunciation is all to the good. I had forgotten that episode of 1921 but now I can recollect it. I am confident that the affection between you two will now become deeper. It is quite likely that your father will now make some sacrifice or other. It is a good thing that you are as devoted to him as before. Did you have the support from Bindanidevi in this matter? Is she educated? I hope that her health will gradually improve. May your purity of heart increase? Sardar and Mahadev too thank you. I had read about your letter of renunciation but I did not feel it proper to write upon it from here. I can now write this because your letter has been allowed to reach me. But I would advise you to refrain from sending this to the newspapers. 3 You are always punctual in sending me the right message at the right moment. You put to shame the youth of the country by your enthusiasm at your time of life. May God enable you to finish the century in the same state of vigour. 4

The princes and the people of Kathiawar know you just as well as they know me and if your greater age, your smiles and your energy which youth can emulate cannot secure help from the princes and the monied men of Kathiawar, no appeal that I can arm you with will do so. And I will not have you betray want of faith in yourself, in your cause and God. But if there must be a passport, then let this serve the purpose. 5 The youth has not replied to my inquiry as to who intended to stage the play. You should rest assured that I would never criticize your writings without ascertaining your views. I have great attachment for you both and have told you that I want a good many things from you. How can I have them unless I am able to win your heart? I shall never forget that early morning scene on the beach. I will go through your farce if I get the time. I will read it with your eyes and write to you if I have anything to say. I would not use the freedom you have granted me, and you also need not stop the sale. I do not wish to persuade you to do that even through strength of our mutual love. It is true that I have not read any of your books. 6

We did not, therefore, think it desirable to keep a girl in the bloom of youth unmarried for very long after betrothal. The fact that Chi. Lakshmi is getting married does not mean that her education will stop. I regard Maruti as a very worthy young man. He is a man of self-control. He has received training at the hands of Bhai Lakshmidas and Velabehn. He realizes the responsibility he is undertaking. He will not only be a husband to Lakshmi, but will also be a friend and teacher to her. There can be no doubt that, if this marriage is successful, it will benefit both Harijans and Hinduism a great deal. Looked at from this point of view, this marriage is of great importance and makes the responsibility of both correspondingly greater. 7 The maxim “Yoga is skill in work” is true. There should be perfect combination of physical and mental work. Mussolini was a blacksmith’s son who did hard labour in his home and who, in his youth, worked as a labourer in a factory carrying bricks to the second floor of the building 120 times a day and went to jail eleven times. But this hard life gave him valuable training. His mind was not slumbering when he did all this labour. If it had been slumbering, why, there have been millions and millions of labourers who have carried bricks and farmers who have worked in the fields but have left behind them no mark in the world. 8

Youth has always been found to be most impressionable and, therefore, it has naturally fallen a prey to this spirit; and in its haste to realize independence it has missed the central fact that independence can only come out of interdependence and that it is a fruit of long training in self-restraint. It has forgotten that independence is never synonymous with indulgence. The blame for the wildness of youth lies, therefore, at the door of the spirit of the times. It would be wrong to impute it to the assertion of sterling independence based upon a conscious practice of self-restraint and an ever-increasing effort implicitly to obey the will of God speaking within and then known as the inner voice. 9 The letter in question makes sad reading despite the noble views expressed in it. It depicts the pitiable condition of sophisticated modern youth. Young people may perhaps be angry at this statement and may believe that people like me deserve to be pitied. But my experience clearly shows how ignorant they are. 10

A youth asks the following five questions:

1. When it is our claim that there is no caste among the Hindus which can be called untouchables, why should we fight unnecessarily over this word?

2. When it is our contention that Varna is determined by the nature of work, why should we not reform the work of the so-called untouchables? When their work is degrading, what is the point in fighting with the higher varnas by taking sides with the untouchables?

3. When untouchability can be abolished through inter-dining and intermarriage, why should we not resort to these too?

4. Can the question of temple-entry by Harijans be not solved by building separate temples for them?

5. Will the orthodox allow Harijans to enter temples when the temple-entry Bills are passed? I hope you will be able to set my doubts at rest. Whether I shall succeed or not, I do not know. But I shall certainly try to satisfy that youth and others like him. Success lies in the hands of God. 1. The claim that there is no such caste as untouchables is made by the reformers, not by the sanatanists. Unfortunately, the caste Hindus have dubbed several Hindu castes as untouchables. And today in Government offices also these castes are entered as untouchables. Therefore, so long as we are not able to convince our sanatanist brothers, it becomes the duty of the reformers to fight for the abolition of this caste-born untouchability.

2. Whether Varna is determined by work or otherwise, is a question which does not arise here. Therefore I am leaving it. Those who wish to know my opinion in this matter should please read the previous issue of Harijan Sevak. So far as the work of the so-called untouchables is concerned, if by reform of their work it is meant that they should give up their trades, it is not only unnecessary but also harmful, because these trades are of the nature of public service. The washer man, the barber, the cobbler, the Dom, the scavenger is all true servants of the people. If they were to give up their work, the people would be doomed. The reformers believe that in treating these people as untouchables, caste Hindus have made a mistake. It is the firm conviction of the reformer that the work of the scavenger and the Dom is sacred. It is the duty of the caste Hindus to improve their work. The mother removes the excrement and does the washing. The doctor cuts flesh, bone and skin. But the mother and the doctor do their work neatly and wash themselves afterwards. While doing their work they become untouchable. We should treat scavengers, etc., in exactly the same way. Just as mothers and the doctors are not untouchables by birth, so also the sweeper and others are not born untouchables, even though while doing their work they may be untouchable. When we look upon the sweeper and others as our equals, we will not segregate them from ourselves; on the other hand we shall embrace them with love and we will endeavour to improve their work and their condition. Today, in segregating them we perpetrate tyranny on them. We do commit violence against them, offend society and bring into contempt the fundamental principles of Hinduism. Therefore, it becomes our sacred duty to work for the cause of the Harijans.

3. I do not agree that inter-dining and intermarriage can bring emancipation to anyone. Inter-dining and intermarriage are a separate question. It has no connection with caste or untouchability. It has a separate code. In any case, removal of untouchability as we have defined it today does not include inter-dining and intermarriage.

4. When we consider it our duty to remove untouchability, why should we build separate temples for Harijans? They have as much right to worship in common temples as others have.

5. No one ever said that with the mere passing of the Bills the orthodox will permit the Harijans to enter temples. But the existing law is such that even if one Hindu among the orthodox raises an objection, no public temple can be thrown open to the Harijans. 11

I have tried to study Hinduism since my youth and have endeavoured to shape my conduct according to what I was taught in my childhood. I have studied the Hindu scriptures to the best for my ability. I have studied the sacred books of other religions also with reverence. Right from my childhood I have believed that untouchability as we know it today has no place in Hinduism and that it is a great evil which has somehow entered it. Study and experience have confirmed me in this view. I am convinced that Hinduism will perish if we do not get rid of this evil of untouchability. 12 I have kept myself informed of your health, or rather want of it, and I realized long ago that it was vain to plead with you that you should take this change or that. In this as in other matters you are a law unto yourself. I do, therefore, satisfy myself with praying that God, who has taken care of you all these long years and who has blessed you with energy of which the youth of India may well be jealous, will continue to take care of you, so long as He needs your services. 13

I believe in the middle path. Most boys and girls should be guided and allow themselves to be guided by their parents and guardians and the latter on their part should cherish and promote the independence of their boys and girls who may be under their guardianship or supervision. If the youth of the country will remain pure they should avoid all secretiveness. 14 Since my youth upward I have consistently dined with all so long as the rules of cleanliness have been observed. But that has nothing to do with the present movement. Interdining and the rest is a question for each individual to determine for himself. The movement organized by the Servants of Untouchables Society stands for simple removal of untouchability in every shape and form, in so far as it is special to the so-called untouchables. They would have the same public rights and facilities as are enjoyed by every other Hindu, that is to say, they should have access to all public institutions, such as wells, schools, roads, temples, etc. 15

A German youth named Khuro, has arrived from South Africa. He is in my party at present. He is said to be a correspondent of The Hindu. Poor man, he has been robbed of a sum of Rs. 1,000. Thakkar Bapa has fallen in love with him. He cheerfully works as watchman and porter. He is quite robust and never feels fatigued. He is very active and highly educated. He has become a British subject. 16 The Jain address lays stress upon the fact that, alike in my speech and in my action, I represent the best that is to be found in Jainism. I accept the compliment in all humility. I believe in the truth of all religions of the world. And since my youth upward, it has been a humble but persistent effort on my part to understand the truth of all the religions of the world, and adopt and assimilate in my own thought, word and deed all that I have found to be best in those religions. The faith that I profess not only permits me to do so, but it renders it obligatory for me to take the best from whatsoever source I may find it. It is in that spirit that this movement or campaign against untouchability is conceived for this “touch-magnetism” has not been confined to Harijans, but it has affected caste against caste and religion against religion. I for one shall not be satisfied until, as the result of this movement, we have arrived at heart-unity amongst all the different races and communities inhabiting this land, and it is for that reason that I have invited the co-operation of all the people living in India and even outside. 17

I had no such prejudice to overcome against Islam. Later when I met some fine Christian people my prejudice went, and for a year I studied Christian books voraciously, attended the Keswick Convention, met famous divines and generally absorbed Christianity, honestly seeking to know if I should do as some of my friends were always begging me to do become a Christian. But in the end I honestly felt I could not do so. I believe in the historic Jesus, for the four gospels bear the stamp of the real experience of devotees. 18 Would it not be better that I give you a couple of minutes than that you take a couple of minutes for speech-making? Well, I should like to leave you a message of silence. Speech without the backing of experience based on action will lack chastity and refinement. I would ask you to curb your tongues and make use of your hands and feet for the service of the community. After you have done so for a few years, you will speak the speech that counts and never fails. 19

I was unconscious of doing any wrong, so far as I can recollect, till some years ago at Sabarmati an inmate of the Ashram told me that my practice, when extended to grown-up girls and women, offended the accepted notion of decency. But after discussion with the inmates it was continued. Recently two co-workers who came to Wardha suggested that the practice was likely to set a bad example to others and that I should discontinue it on that account. Their argument did not appeal to me. Nevertheless I did not want to ignore the friends’ warning. I, therefore, referred it for examination and advice to five inmates of the Ashram. Whilst it was taking shape a decisive event took place. It was brought to my notice that a bright university student was taking all sorts of liberties in private with a girl who was under his influence, on the plea that he loved her like his own sister and could not restrain himself from some physical demonstration of it. He resented the slightest suggestion of impurity. Could I mention what the youth had been doing, the reader would unhesitatingly pronounce the liberties taken by him as impure. When I read the correspondence, I and those who saw it came to the conclusion that either the young man was a consummate hypocrite or was self-deluded. Innocent youth is a priceless possession not to be squandered away for the sake of a momentary excitement, miscalled pleasure. And let the weak girls like the one in this picture be strong enough to resist the approaches, though they may be declared to be innocent, of young men who are either knaves or who do not know what they are doing. 20

It is the duty of leaders in the Punjab, in which this crime seems to flourish most, to get together, irrespective of race or creed, and devise methods of protecting the youth of the land of five rivers from criminals whether as seducers or ravishers and murderers. It is no use passing resolutions condemning the criminals. All crimes are different kinds of diseases and they should be treated as such by the reformers. That does not mean that the police will suspend their function of regarding such cases as public crimes, but their measures are never intended to deal with causes of these social disturbances. To do so is the special prerogative of the reformer. And unless the moral tone of society is raised, in spite of whatever may be written in the newspapers such crimes will flourish, if only for the simple reason that the moral sense of these perverts had become blunt and they rarely read newspapers, especially those portions which contain fervent exhortation against such vices. The only effective way I can conceive of, therefore, is for some enthusiastic reformers like the Principal of the Sanatana Dharma College, if he is one, to gather together other reformers and take concerted measures to deal with the evil. 21

At the root of this idea is the traditional Hindu sentiment that we should renounce the world in old age. That is why we want to educate our children in the old way. But we have given up the belief that renunciation is a duty only of old age, not imperative for youth. We have accepted it as our duty, even in youth, to renounce all pleasures and serve the country. If we believe that sacrifice is man’s dharma and that our pleasures should be consistent with the dharma of renunciation, then it becomes our duty to recognize the appropriateness of this dharma for our wives and children as well. If they insist on having more than this, let us tell them that we can give them only this much, that we can give them only the food that we ourselves eat; that what we consider proper for ourselves, we consider proper for them too. 22 It is the fashion in some quarters nowadays for the young to discredit whatever may be said by old people. I am not prepared to say that there is absolutely no justification for this belief. But I warn the youth of the country against always discounting whatever old men or women may say for the mere fact that it is said by such persons. Even as wisdom often comes from the mouths of babes, so does it often come from the mouths of old people. The golden rule is to test everything in the light of reason and experience, no matter from whom it comes. I want to revert to the subject of birth-control by contraceptives. It is dinned into one’s ears that gratification of the sex urge is a solemn obligation like the obligation of discharging debts lawfully incurred, and that not to do so would involve the penalty of intellectual decay. This sex urge has been isolated from the desire for progeny, and it is said by the protagonists of the use of contraceptives that conception is an accident to be prevented except when the parties desire to have children. I venture to suggest that this is a most dangerous doctrine to preach anywhere; much more so in a country like India where the middle-class male population has become imbecile through abuse of the creative function. If satisfaction of the sex urge is a duty, the unnatural vice of which I wrote some time ago and several other ways of gratification would be commendable. The reader should know that even persons of note have been known to approve of what is commonly known as sexual perversion. He may be shocked at the statement.

But if it somehow or other gains the stamp of respectability, it will be the rage among boys and girls to satisfy their urge among members of their own sex. For me the use of contraceptives is not far removed from the means to which persons have hitherto resorted for the gratification of their sexual desire with results that very few know. I know what havoc secret vice has played among schoolboys and schoolgirls. The introduction of contraceptives under the name of science and imprimatur of known leaders’ society has intensified the complication and made the task of reformers who work for purity of social life well-nigh impossible for the moment. I betray no confidence when I inform the reader that there are unmarried girls of impressionable age studying in schools and colleges who study birth-control literature and magazines with avidity and even possess contraceptives. It is impossible to confine their use to married women. Marriage loses its sanctity when its purpose and highest use is conceived to be the satisfaction of the animal passion without contemplating the natural result of such satisfaction. I have no doubt that those learned men and women who are carrying no propaganda with missionary zeal in favour of the use of contraceptives are doing irreparable harm to the youth of the country under the false belief that they will be saving thereby the poor women who may be obliged to bear children against their will. Those who need to limit their children will not be easily reached by them. Our poor women have not the knowledge or the training that the women of the West have. Surely the propaganda is not being carried on on behalf of the middle-class women, for they do not need the knowledge, at any rate so much as the poor classes do. The greatest harm, however, done by that propaganda lies in its rejection of the old ideal and substitution in its place of one which, if carried out, must spell the moral and physical extinction of the race. The horror with which ancient literature has regarded the fruitless use of the vital fluid was not a superstition born of ignorance.

What shall we say of a husband man who will show the finest seed in his possession on stony ground or of the owner of a field who will receive in his field rich with fine soil good seed under conditions that will make it impossible for it to grow? God has blessed man with seed that has the highest potency and woman with a field richer than the richest earth to be found anywhere on this globe. Surely it is criminal folly for man to allow his most precious possession to run to waste. He must guard it with a care greater than he will bestow upon the richest pearls in his possession. And so is a woman guilty of criminal folly who will receive the seed in her life-producing field with the deliberate intention of letting it run to waste. Both he and she will be judged guilty of misuse of the talents given to them and they will be dispossessed of what they have been given. Sex urge is a fine and noble thing. There is nothing to be ashamed of in it. But it is meant only for the act of creation. Any other use of it is a sin against God and humanity. Contraceptives of a kind there were before and there will be hereafter, but the use of them was formerly regarded as sinful. It was reserved for our generation to glorify vice by calling it virtue. The greatest disservice protagonists of contraceptives are rendering to the youth of India is to fill their minds with what appears to me to be wrong ideology. Let the young men and women of India who hold her destiny in their hands beware of this false god and guard the treasure with which God has blessed them and use it, if they wish, for the only purpose for which it is intended. 23

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