Comments on: Bose, Gandhi, Ghadar and India’s Independence

By: Curious

Curious — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 04:27:35 +0000

“Why blame Gandhi? Because ideas matter. It does not matter how long ago a person lived for his ideas to cast an influence on how people who espouse those ideas behave. It is a question of guidance and leadership. If the guide leaves instructions that people follow and as a consequence end up at the bottom of the ravine, it is fair to blame the guide…..”

Which of Gandhi’s ideas do youthink that the Indians or the Indian state of today is following?
.

By: Vishal

Vishal — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 01:22:17 +0000

>> They hanged those who really meant business. Gandhi was not hanged by the British.

Well, may be because they just couldn’t afford the consequences.

Anyways, it seems like your dislike for Gandhi is rooted in your personal “visceral” distaste, rather than logical, balanced analysis. I agree that Gandhi was not perfect and there surely are many things/beliefs that I strongly disagree with, but painting him almost a a pure evil (or “certifiably” insane) is extremism, IMO.

By: Indian History Carnival – 26 | DesiPundit

Indian History Carnival – 26 | DesiPundit — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 15:27:39 +0000

[...] Atanu Dey writes about Gandhi, Bose and few issues related to India’s Independence. I think that Gandhi was an ego-maniac as well. I read his autobiography and that message comes across very clearly to me. He could not stand anyone who challenged his authority. Subhas Chandra Bose did not approve of Gandhi’s carefully calculated pacifism. Gandhi basically decided that Subhas is his enemy. When it comes to practical matters, I suppose Gandhi decided “love thine enemy” is not applicable, and saw to it that Subhas is buried. [...]

By: Berkeley and Indian independence – Berkeleyside

Berkeley and Indian independence – Berkeleyside — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 19:45:34 +0000

[...] other day development economist Atanu Dey wrote a lengthy post on his blog tearing into the usually hagiographic portrayals of Mahatma Gandhi. It’s worth reading if [...]

By: Atanu Dey

Atanu Dey — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 14:25:05 +0000

tarang_72:

Why blame Gandhi? Because ideas matter. It does not matter how long ago a person lived for his ideas to cast an influence on how people who espouse those ideas behave. It is a question of guidance and leadership. If the guide leaves instructions that people follow and as a consequence end up at the bottom of the ravine, it is fair to blame the guide.

By: tarang_72

tarang_72 — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 15:02:04 +0000

I agree with your some of your points on Gandhi. But why blame him for india’s growth 60 yrs after his death? His name is just used by politicians for their lack of competence. Look at Gujarat, his birthplace. It is way ahead in terms of many economic development indicators than say many parts of india where Gandhi had not that much influence. If Gandhi had that much influence, Gujarat would have been much poorer and stll using ‘Charkhas’ in viallges but the situation is just reverse of that.

By: lostparadise

lostparadise — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 15:56:32 +0000

“I Shall Never Ask for Pardon: A Memoir of Pandurang Khankhoje” is a book worth reading about a member of Gadhar party. This man travelled from France, Germany, Persia and eventually settled as a farmer in Mexico.

From what I have read of Mahatma Gandhi even I felt like worshiping him. He comes across as a very smart politician and I always felt that he had very sound understanding of India and it’s people.
Certainly like all others he was not perfect but far better than any other person congress has offered us.

By: dodo

dodo — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 14:55:11 +0000

Atanu,

Nice to read more about Ghadar party!

BTW, I want to share an incident with you. Currently I am enrolled in an MBA program at a US school. Couple of weeks back at the Global Economy class, the professor ( who is a regular at op-ed circuits of newspapers) was talking about India and specifically mentioned the “Hindu Rate of Growth”. After the class I went to him, and explained (thanks to you for your earlier post on this), why this should be termed as “nehru rate of growth” instead! He nodded and seemlingly agreed ( but am sure, he profiled me as a rabid right-winger, I could care less)! But I realized, the false anti-hindu propaganda was well-oiled by so called atheists friends of India.