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Spice of Life: Gandhi was apostle of peace, but no pacifist

ByGen VP Malik (retd)
Oct 10, 2024 09:20 AM IST

There are many people in India who believe that in the early years after independence, Gandhian values followed by our political leaders were responsible for the neglect of India’s defence. That, in fact, is far from the truth

In early 1947, Major General (later Field Marshal) KM Cariappa was attending a course at the Imperial Defence College, London. Politics and India’s likely division for independence was much in the air those days. Cariappa stated somewhere that Pt Jawaharlal Nehru and Muhammad Ali Jinnah should meet to work out a solution without partitioning India. In any event, a division of the Indian Army should be averted.

Mahatma Gandhi (File)
Mahatma Gandhi (File)

This statement was criticised by Mahatma Gandhi in his weekly column in The Harijan. Gandhi wrote: “A military man should not express his views on politics.”

In December 1947, days before becoming the first Indian officer to command the Indian Army, Cariappa went to meet Gandhi in the latter’s cottage in Harijan Colony, Delhi. After some polite conversation, he asked Gandhi ji, “How should I speak to my troops about the spirit of non-violence when my main task is to prepare the soldiers to defend the country?”

The response of the apostle of non-violence to the first soldier of independent India was: “You have asked me to tell you in tangible and concrete form how you can convey to the troops, the importance of non-violence. Frankly, I am groping in the dark for an answer. I will find it and then give it to you some day.”

This anecdote is from Gandhiji’s private secretary Pyarelal’s book, Mahatma Gandhi: The Last Phase. Unfortunately, that never happened as Gandhiji was assassinated a month later.

Though Gandhiji believed in non-violence and practised it in the offensive mode to obtain India’s freedom, not many know that he approved and strongly supported the use of the Indian Army to defend Kashmir against Pakistani invasion in October 1947.

In the evening before taking off for Srinagar and assuming command of 161 Infantry Brigade, Brigadier LP Sen (nicknamed Bogey) was asked to brief Gandhiji on the situation in Jammu and Kashmir. Gandhiji heard Sen’s briefing most intently. After finishing the briefing, in typical army style, Brigadier Sen asked if there were any questions. Gandhiji replied “No, no questions.” After a few seconds of silence, Gandhiji said, “Wars are a curse to humanity. They are so utterly senseless. They bring nothing but suffering and destruction.”

As a soldier, and one about to be engaged in battle in a matter of hours, Sen was at a loss to know what to say. Eventually, he asked: “What do I do in Kashmir?” Gandhiji smiled and said: “You’re going in to protect innocent people, and to save them from suffering and their property from destruction. To achieve that you must naturally make full use of every means at your disposal.” (From Bogey Sen’s book, Slender Was The Thread: Kashmir Confrontation 1947-48).

There are many people in India who believe that in the early years after independence, Gandhian values followed by our political leaders were responsible for the neglect of India’s defence. That, in fact, is far from the truth. The fact is that Gandhian values and approach were used as a convenient alibi by leaders who neither understood Gandhiji, nor the security issues that India might face after becoming independent.

Mahatma Gandhi was not a pacifist. He maintained that violence was better than cowardice. The real problem in India has been the lack of strategic thinking in the ever-changing geo-politics.

vedmalik@gmail.com

iThe writer is a Panchkula-based former chief of army staff.)

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