Indian political approach : A poem

Europe and the new world have for long shaped our minds, it is perhaps a good time to look within. Here's my poetic take on Indian political thought.

• India is an ancient civilisation, Our political thought is as old as its tradition.

• Political thought in India is a work of ages, oral transmissions were carried out by sages.

• It’s often argued, India lacks a strategic thought, It changed, once Manu, Chanakya and Buddha are sought

• While in west dichotomies are assertive, Indians have looked at things in a continuous perspective

• Man-society, nature-culture, Dharam-dhand aren’t separated, the Indian way of life is a lot more integrated

• Manu was the first lawgiver of Indians, his manusmriti is treated as both pernicious as well as auspicious

• Concepts of purushartha, ashram, Varnas and sanskar were emphasised, till date these institutions have survived

• Responsibilities of kings were defined, women were relegated and sidelined

• Kautilya wrote arthshastra a book on statecraft, it was a treatise on geopolitics, administration and ways to tackle graft

• Kautilya belonged to the school of offensive realism, more Machiavellian than entire Machiavellianism

• He discussed three types of warfares, a six-fold policy to give the enemy nightmares

• Sam, Dam, danda, bheda were the mantra to victory, frequently used throughout the history

• King was supposed to carry out expeditions, ari and Mitra were first put under considerations

• A thorough assessment of 84 elements is to be undertaken, lest any ari or Mitra is mistaken

• Corruption has been a malady since past, 40 ways of embezzlement even Kautilya would forecast

• Buddhism was the Protestantism of the east, considered egalitarian, socialist, republican at the very least

• Though Buddha was not a political philosopher in the conventional sense, yet he set the standards of good governance

• Buddha gave the concepts of peace and non-violence, dhamma chakra was in salience

• War was replaced by a battle of virtue, though violence in geopolitics is hard to eschew

• For him kingship was a delusion, it’s a contradiction with one’s own collusion

• Ashoka was his philosopher-king, whose compassion and toleration was fascinating

• Modern Indian thinkers played an important role, Their ideas shaped the freedom movement on the whole

• Sir Syed Ahmed Khan was in ambivalence, from Hindu Muslim unity he turned to communal intolerance

• He was a votary of science and reason, reformer to the core, he had a modern vision

• Delusional of Hindus, and aware of British might, sir Syed turned loyalist, legitimising the communal fight

• He is the father of the two-nation theory, giving India its deepest injury

• moderates laid the ground for a modern political movement, but their constitutional methods caused widespread disenchantment

• Aurobindo Ghosh gave new lamps for the old, in contrast to moderates, his methods were bold

• Prayers petitions and pamphlets were gone, calls were given for Swaraj to be won

• Aurobindo Ghosh was a great synthesiser, ideas of east and west were never intertwined any wiser

• He gave the idea of passive resistance, which laid the foundations for Gandhi's significance

• One should follow the law of one’s own being, he said; India would chart its own course was impressed

• For him nations were an expression of the universal spirit, to spread its spiritual message was for India’s credit

• He also emphasised human unity, as aggregation was in the interest of humanity

• His words seem relatable, now more than ever. Today’s issues need collective action to deliver

• Gandhi was more of a political scientist than a philosopher, there hasn’t been a more successful mass leader

• He is the father of Indian nationalism, to his credit, he did his own criticism

• Most loved person after Jesus Christ, Mahatma Gandhi was an enigma, a zeitgeist

• He talked about satyagraha and Swaraj, sarvodya and ram Rajya

• For him ends and means were incongruences, his methods of protests were based on non-violence

• For him ahimsa was an attribute of the soul, spreading the message of brotherhood was his ultimate goal.

• Satyagraha was the insistence on truth, it was an article of faith, a necessity for today’s youth.

• For him modern civilisation was satanic, minimisation of wants was given as a tonic

• His critique of modern civilisation was a war of position, doubts were cast on white man’s burden and the civilising mission

• Sarvodaya was Gandhian socialism, his constructive program fostered this tradition.

• Gandhi favoured equality of dignity, bread labour, trusteeship, land reforms were suggested for amity

• For Gandhi ethics and politics were the same, for whose division, Machiavelli gets the blame

• For a babool will not give a rose flower, it’s essential to have justice with power

• For Gandhi rights and duties are embryonic entities, the message of Gita was the essence

• For Him state was antithetical to freedom, an instrument of coercion, Ram Rajya was his idea, an anarchist vision

• M N Roy was one of the most learned personality, ambivalence was his inherent peculiarity

• Over the years he criticised many dictums, L L Roy, Lenin and Gandhi were his notable victims

• He shifted parties by the season, suspicion and scepticism being the reason

• His ideas were ahead of his time, but lack of popular mobilisation was his crime

• He criticised historic materialism, for him, the revolution wasn’t a change in the mode of production

• The real revolution is ideological he remarked, radical democracy and cosmopolitan union of free persons, an idea he sparked

• He gave Marxism a humanist interpretation, by criticising he retained the Marxian tradition

• Radical humanism was his philosophy of freedom, a life free of fear and superstition

• Though he was a political connoisseur, his vacillations made him a ‘remarkable failure’

• Ambedkar was more of a politician, under him Dalits developed a collective vision

• Annihilation if caste rejected Brahminism, the strongest critic of purity and pollution

• Respect and dignity were demanded as a right, for him, Vedas and manusmriti deserved dynamite

• It was under these ideas, Indian national movement took shape; politics developed a national consciousness, the British couldn’t escape

• Moderates were for constitutionalism and liberalism, extremists for passive resistance and affronted criticism

• While moderates prepared the field, extremists sowed the seeds. The crop was ready to harvest, Gandhi entered the conquest

• Mass movements and the constructive programme was the Gandhian way, Indians reciprocated without going estray

• Jinnah demanded another nation, Ambedkar was instrumental in the Dalit assertion

• Congress became a dominant force, a national movement was now on the right course

• Quit India movement was the war of manoeuver, with the end of world war 2, it was game over

• Gandhi was instrumental in bringing the British down, India was to get rid of the crown

• freedom came with its own cost, a large chunk of India was forever lost

• 15 August 1947 is a watershed in Indian history, from hereon, India writes its own destiny

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