Gandhi with grandchildren Rajmohan and Tara. Delhi, circa March 1942. From the back cover of Rajmohan Gandhi’s, Why Gandhi Still Matters (Aleph, 2017)Since the Arab uprisings of 2011, the world has witnessed a stream of popular protest movements, the acceleration of extreme inequality, precarity and migration, unhinged populisms, and a planetary tipping point. What vocabulary, concepts and ideas are needed to make sense of the present moment? This column, informed by principles of critical pedagogy, engages the ideas and works of critical thinkers, artists and activists. It provides a space to think with the thinkers and deliberate about praxis, ways of understanding [or reading] our world and putting affirmative ideas into practice.
Seven decades ago, the Indian subcontinent witnessed the euphoria of independence, stirred with the devastation of partition. Some 17 million people took part in what would be called, “the greatest migration in human history.” During that formidable movement of humanity, up to half a million people were killed. Many eyewitnesses recall the horrors of “murder, rape, and shattered families,” while still others recollect magnanimous acts of ordinary people who helped, sheltered and protected their fellow travelers, country people, and human beings.
I can think of no better way to kickoff this inaugural column of Critical Voices in Critical Times than with Rajmohan Gandhi, grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, historian, former parliamentarian, international peace activist, and retired University of Illinois professor. As an astute student and eyewitness of history, professor Gandhi has a skill for distilling the vital lessons of the past. His latest book, Why Gandhi Still Matters (Aleph, 2017), deals with the complicated legacy of independence and partition, and the enduring relevance of nonviolent resistance (ahisma and satyagraha), Gandhi’s “gift to the world”.
