Mahatma Gandhi: Duty and Enlightened Anarchy in Constitutional Governance

Abstract

“Gandhi and India are inextricably interlinked. Both lose its value and meaning without each other. Gandhi, one of the greatest social influencer, is an epitome of truthfulness and non-violence. His idea of ‘Swaraj, ' ‘Sarvodaya, ' and ‘Swadharm’ influenced by John Ruskin and Gopal Krishna Gokhale still shows many lost souls a way of life and governance. His idea of ‘trusteeship’ and ‘swaraj’ is totally devoid of problems of ‘capitalism’ and ‘Marxist socialism.' He did not ever believe in amassing of wealth by profiteering and profit maximization, and he equally disbelieved the idea of governance through bloodbath. Swadhram or duty has always been pivotal in his political philosophy. He does not only preach about dutifulness, rather he demonstrates impeccably at countless occasions as to how one can do his duty even in the most trying times. He has shown us how Swaraj aimed at Sarvodaya can be attained by Swadharm. His idea of village republic speaks about participatory governance, and promotion of village cottage industries presents a model for economic uplift of villagers. India still is struggling to make villages self-sustainable, and creation of job opportunity for village youth at local level remains a challenge. His idea of social harmony, devoid of communalism and hatred, based upon tolerance to all faiths and religion, i.e., ‘sarva dharma sambhav, ' is the most sought-after idea in world for securing peace. All these values and his devotion to live them all his life got due recognition in ‘fundamental duties’ in the constitutional governance of India. In this chapter, the author has made a humble attempt to co-relate the duties in Constitution with the idea of Gandhi and its relevance in modern context.”.