In his latest blog, Justice (retd) Markandey Katju, former Supreme Court judge and former head of the Press Council of India, has called Mahatma Gandhi a British agent, who perpetuated the British policy of divide and rule by prioritising Hindu symbols and adopted the 'nonsensical channel' of satyagraha.
Claiming that Gandhi did 'great harm' to India, Katju said Gandhi continuously injected religion into politics by emphaising Hindu religious ideas like Ram Rajya, cow protection, celibacy, caste system. This pushed the orthodox Muslim to Muslim organisations, the former judge argued. He added that Gandhi also weakened the revolutionary strand of the freedom struggle, and was an economic reactionary. He advocated self sufficient villages - but this, Katju said, were casteist and in the grips of money landers and landlords. He also called Gandhi's criticism of industrialisation and trusteeship theory as 'nonsense'.
Gandhi may have tried to douse communal fires, Katju conceeded - but he called it a 'drama' and blamed him for lighting it in the first place.