What a week it was! The Pran Pratishta ceremony of Ram Lalla at Ayodhya on January 22 was followed by 75th Republic Day and today we commemorate the 77th death anniversary of the greatest apostle of peace on earth whom the nation knows as ‘Mahatma’, who led the freedom struggle and redefined ‘Ramrajya’.
Even before the Constitution was adopted on November 26, 1949, Mahatma Gandhi; the one who lived by non-violence met with a violent death, as an atmosphere of hate and hatred engulfed the country due to the partition riots. Due to his stand on partition, Nathuram Godse martyred him on January 30, 1948. Two years thereafter, the Constitution was inaugurated on Republic Day with the goals of equality, secularism, democracy, fraternity and social justice as it’s guiding principles.
The term Ramrajya refers to an ideal state, which is believed to have existed after Lord Ram returned to this kingdom of Ayodhya and established his rule as mentioned in the ancient Indian epic Ramayana, which also speaks of Lord Rama’s values being based on ethics. He fought with Ravana to uphold dharma. It is believed that Lord Rama ideals were based on truth, honour and righteousness. Since the Pran Pratishtha ceremony at the newly built temple, the word Ramrajya has been a subject in many political discussions.
Gandhi’s had his vision of Ramrajya for India. He wrote in Hind Swaraj in 1929 that, “By Ramrajya, I do not mean Hindu Raj. For me, Ram and Rahim are one and the same deity. I acknowledge no other God but the one God of truth and righteousness”. He wrote in the magazine Young India also in 1929, "Ramrajya was the kingdom of God on earth, where the prince and the pauper had equal rights and even the lowliest citizen could be sure of swift justice without an elaborate or costly procedure. He also described it as “sovereignty of the people based on pure moral authority”, within a democratic framework.
Gandhi's ideal State of Ramrajya was not associated with a particular religion but was more about moral values – justice, equality and truth, dispensed even to the most marginalised. Ramrajya was deeply ingrained in Gandhi’s concept of ahimsa or non-violence. Even in those difficult days amidst the partition riots, he was against the weaponisation of faith and was an angel of peace and non violence. Being in close contact with the people whose toil and dreams Gandhi sought to understand and empathize created his version of Ramrajya. He believed that there can be no Ramrajya in the state of iniquitous inequalities in which a few roll in riches and the masses do not get even enough to eat.
The Constitution was being framed as the Mahatma was fell to the bullets fired by the one who was fired by a vitriolic hatred towards his stand on partition. The framers of the Constitution had clarity that a regime built on hate would only be destructive of what they attempted to achieve an inclusive India based on diversity. Mahatma’s vision for India found place in the ideals of the Constitution.
Mahatma risked his life and January 30, 1948 was not the first attempt though it was a successful one. He lived and died for what he believed in. On January 13, 1948, he had begun his fast unto death for communal peace and harmony after the violence of ‘partition’ on both communities. Gandhi had then said, “Death for me would be a glorious deliverance rather than that I should be a helpless witness of the destruction of India, Hinduism, Sikhism and Islam. He said that he would terminate his fast “the day a Muslim can walk around the city of Delhi all by himself”.
He believed, “My Hinduism teaches me to respect all religions, in this lies the secret of Ramrajya”, he wrote a year before his death, as his vision for the future governance for the newly independent India. In those difficult periods, Gandhi wanted to spread the message of religious harmony to showcase that it was possible to practise one’s beliefs and still co-exist with others.
Though he was a devout Hindu, he had the most amicable and warm relations with many who did not belong to the Hindu fold. Gandhi’s style of politics was that he used religion and politics to bring together different communities and build unity. He was opposed to political virility. When the 1919 pan-Islamic Khilafat movement was launched to prevent the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire after its defeat in World War 1, at the hands of the Allied powers (including Britain), Gandhi lent his support to it and viewed it as an anti-British movement in India under which Hindus and Muslims would unite.
Gandhi ‘s philosophy of non-violence inspired many leaders round the world like Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela, Aung San Suu Kyi and Albert Einstein. Luther said, “Christ gave us the goals and Mahatma Gandhi the tactics”. Einstein respected Gandhi for “inventing a new and humane means for the liberation war of an oppressed country”.
Co-existence of different communities is a must for any nation to prosper. Our constitution’s principles are in sync with those ideals. No citizen of this great nation should ever feel insecure because he or she belongs to a minority community, as nation building is always a result of the unity and dedication all its people. Ramrajya conveys a sense of duty to those sitting at the helm of public institutions to set the highest moral and ethical values. Governments should take inspiration from it, while implementing their governance agenda based on inclusiveness.
It is an irony that a messenger of compassion, non-violence and justice was snuffed out by an atmosphere of hate and hatred. January 30 every year is a reminder to the country and the world what an atmosphere of hate can lead to.
