‘Congress’s this ‘Satyagraha’ is not what Mahatma taught us’

The Congress party was established in 1885. The founder was AO Hume, a former ICS officer. Until Gandhiji took over the leadership of Congress on his return from South Africa (where he spent 21 years) till then the party did not have a mass base.

Rahul Gandhi has spent over 40 hours with the Enforcement Directorate. The Congress party has suddenly woken up, burning tyres on roads, dislocating traffic. One Congress man called the Prime Minister a dog, a former lady Member of Parliament got hold of the collar of a policeman who was on duty. On the first day the slogans of the agitators included, “We are doing ‘Satyagraha’”. Abuse and violence are not part of Satyagraha. If Sonia Gandhi was not indisposed she, would have, in her own diplomatic, decisive way pulled up these unruly Congress wallahs. However, unintended consequences have surfaced due to the agitation the Congress agitation has given life to a moriband party.

To call the bedlam Satyagraha is to do great injustice to the man who enriched our political vocabulary by inventing the word, but also made it into a powerful nonviolent weapon which fundamentally changed Indian politics. I doubt if any of the aggressive agitators have ever heard of Gandhiji book “Satyagraha in South Africa”. Let me quote from it.

“None of us knew what name to give to our movement….. A small prize was therefore announced in Indian Opinion, (a paper Gandhiji founded and edited) to be awarded to the reader who invented the best designation for our struggle. The year was 1906. We thus received a number of suggestions…. Shri Maganlal Gandhi (the Mahatma’s cousin) was one of the competitors and he suggested the word “Sadagraha”, meaning ‘firmness in a good cause’. I liked the word, but it did not truly represent the whole idea I wished to connote. I therefore corrected it to “Satyagraha”. Truth (satya) implies love and firmness (agraha) engenders and therefore serves as a synonym for force. I thus began to call the Indian movement “Satyagraha”.

Geoffrey Ashe the AngloAmerican author, in his book “Gandhi” published a year before Gandhiji’s birth centenary in 1968 wrote, “Satyagraha Gandhi decided, can only employ such weapons as boycotts and strikes. But when authority moves against them they must submit to its blows without retaliation, or go to prison or death without rancour, indeed with joy and courtesy. Full responsibility falls on each one, as a soldier of non-violence Satyagraha implies self-discipline.” Congress agitators please note.

PROTEST OVER AGNIPATH SCHEME
The Central Government finds itself in a spot. It was not the wisest decision taken without the matter being discussed in both Houses of Parliament. A bill could have been passed to introduce the Agnipath Scheme.

Why has the decision of Government caused so much anger? Because it was not well thought through. What was the hurry? There are serious differences among some retired senior officers of the armed forces on the value and usefulness of Agnipath. I find even the nomenclature strange. Why not Suryapath? Youth organisations have vigorously opposed this scheme. Some have called it ‘hair-brained’. The phrase is not mine.

One hope’s the widespread violent protests will end soon. But the 17-23 old recruits will at the end of 4 years ask for jobs. If not satisfied, uglier protests could follow.

THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL

K NATWAR SINGH The author is Former Minister of External Affairs of India