The day is the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi and lal Bahadur Shastri. They both preached what they practiced

We celebrate October 2 as the birth anniversary of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, who led perhaps the biggest mass movement in the world. The hallmark of this movement was non-violence. It is in recognition of his contributions that the United Nations has declared October 2 as the International Day of Non-violence. But there is more to October 2 than the Gandhian movement. On Gandhi, Albert Einstein had once said, “Generations to come, it may well be, will scarce believe that such a man as this one ever in flesh and blood walked upon this Earth.” For the post-Independence generation, however, most of the knowledge about Gandhi comes from Ben Kingsley’s classic Gandhi, a film that introduced Gandhi to the classes. For the masses, however, it was Rajkumar Hirani’s lage Raho Munna Bhai that introduced the Mahatma. But neither Gandhi nor the significance of October 2 ends here. Gandhi’s strength came from his spirituality, his honesty and simplicity and, of course, his absolute conviction. He would not have been the first man to be thrown out of the first-class compartment despite holding a proper ticket in South Africa. But he perhaps was the first man to ask why. And the rest is history.

October 2 is significant for yet another reason. It’s also the birth anniversary of lal Bahadur Shastri, who resembled Gandhi in many ways — from his simplicity and honesty to conviction and courage. Shastri was a Gandhian on the issue of non-violence as well. After all, for Gandhi non-violence was never a sign of weakness or cowardice. It was his strength emanating from a moral courage and the Mahatma was very clear that when the choice was between violence and non-violence, the latter should prevail. However, when there is only a choice between cowardice and violence, Gandhi preferred violence. He wanted India to resort to arms if the question of honour arose. For Gandhi forgiveness was more ‘manly’ than punishment, but he believed that abstinence is forgiveness only when there is power to punish. It is meaningless when it pretends to proceed from a helpless creature. And Gandhi was firm that strength did not come from physical capacity. It came from an indomitable will. For him the world was not entirely governed by logic and when life itself involved some kind of violence, prudence was in choosing the path of least violence. These words describe Shastri as well. It is in this light that we have to understand the significance of October 2.

Shastri charged the entire nation with the same enthusiasm during the 1965 India-Pakistan war, just the way Gandhi had done during the national movement before Independence. Shastri’s famous prescription was a simple appeal to the people to skip Monday night dinner to battle food scarcity. And people followed it.

The film, Guide, presented Shastri’s philosophy dramatically. The protagonist, a fasting Dev Anand, is being interviewed by a foreign journalist who asks about the efficacy of the fast. “If 40 crore (the then population of India) people skip one meal, 40 crore people can have one meal,” says the protagonist. While Gandhi’s slogan was “Do or Die”, Shastri proclaimed “Jai Jawan Jai Kisan”. Their philosophy was rooted in spirituality. They practised what they preached. This is the significance of October 2.

The writer is professor, Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad (Jharkhand). He can be reached at ppathak.ism@gmail.com