Hind Swaraj or Indian Home Rule, 1909 by M.K. Gandhi

Source:  http://dilipmkpatel.blogspot.com/2009/12/sample-gandhis-ambidexterity.html Posted On Wednesday, December 31, 2008 at 03:51:57 AM Two pages from tri-lingual “Hind Swaraj” that is being released on January 30. On top is Gandhi’s writing with his right hand whereas on bottom is the scribble that he made with left hand Gandhi often cribbed about his bad handwriting. This was perhaps because he did not take his handwriting with left hand seriously. Sample it for yourself. Photographs of his scribbles, both with right and left hands, are printed alongside. You may decide it for yourself which one is better. Navjivan Press, while coming out with Gandhi’s celebrated book “Hind Swaraj” or “Indian Home Rule” in three languages to mark the centenary of the book’s publication, would make Gandhi’s ambidexterity public. The book is being released on January 30, Gandhi’s 61st death anniversary, at Navjivan Press off Ashram Road. Incidentally, Navjivan’s copyright monopoly on Gand

These are photos shot at the Hind Swaraj Conference at Bodhigram, SIDH, Mussoorie. Rev. Samdhong Rimponche. Sri. Ravindra Sharma, Sri. Pawan Gupta, Smt. Radha Behn, Sri. Ransingh Arya, Sri. Shiv Dutt Mishra, Prof. Sharma, Prof. Navjyoti, Prof. Rajiv Sangal, Sri. Udayan Vajpayee, Sri. Chitaranjan and many others spoke.  My report on the event and a note on Hind Swaraj follows.  Samanvaya proposes to organize a Hind Swaraj Conference in Tamilnadu in the month of August. Look out for announecement on this shortly.

I had earlier mentioned about the Hind Swaraj Conference at SIDH Mussoorie , if it is possible for me to connect from Bodhigram will try and upload photos and blog from there... Later.... well it was not possible to connect and hence couldn't, the photos, reports and comments in the posts that follow.

I doubt whether any of our national dailies will carry escapes from Euro-centricism as necessary step to relieve our education system of its bias. However, it was interesting to read that the HINDU can use Gandhi to present Chavez to us!! Interesting!! The attempts to purge colonial influences from education policy have been evidenced in many former colonies in Asia and Africa. In India, for example, the movement to liberate education policy dates back to pre-independence days. Rabindranath Tagore did not like the system of education promoted by the English rulers, as it only suited their purpose of getting educated clerks to serve the Empire at a low cost. Gandhi, as early as 1909, in his response to Macaulay’s  Minutes of Education  (1835) observed “The foundation that Macaulay laid of education has enslaved us. (…) Is it not a sad commentary that we should have to speak of Home Rule in a foreign tongue?” (Translation of  Hind Swaraj , published in the Gujarat columns of  Indian

Samanvaya is happy to partner with SIDH, Mussorie and CEH, IIIT-Hyderabad in organizing a Conference to understand the current global(ized) economic crisis from the perspective of a 100 year old Testament. The event titled, ' Understanding the Modern Economic Crisis from the perspective of Hind Swaraj  and Exploring Alternative Spaces for a Sustainable World Order'  will be hosted by SIDH, Mussoorie between the 13th to 17th May 2009 at their beautiful Bodhigram Campus in Kempty. The event will bring together academics, activists, scholars, thinkers and people from various fields who are asking serious questions on the current crisis. Sri. Samdhong Rimpoche , the Prime Minster for the Tibetan Government in exile and Sri. Ravindra Sharma of Kala Ashram, Adilabad will participate apart from many others. Do write if you are interested to participate for more details.

Here are excerpts from the invitation mail by the organizers... Central University of Tibetan Studies, Sarnath   and Gujarat Vidyapeeth, Ahmedabad As part of the Centenary celebrations the Central University of Tibetan Studies, Sarnath, Varanasi and the Gujarat Vidyapeeth have planned a ten day camp (Shivir) at Sarnath during 2 nd and 11 th April, 2009 . Gandhiji had firmly held his conviction on the world view he had presented in the Hind Swaraj and also on the foundations he specified for the social reconstruction. Unfortunately, during his times and also soon after Independence, the leaders hardly paid any attention to work for the Hind Swaraj. Interestingly, after hundred years the situation world over is such that the fundamentals of Gandhian thought are being referred to and revisited. The threats from the nature and the threats from fellow men are intensifying and a search for sustainable solution has begun. The broad objective of the proposed shibir is to discuss, share a

Reading Hind Swaraj in original Gujarati is IMPORTANT for anyone who wants to understand this work in its completeness. Many  parts that are not clear in the English version is due to poor translation and further edition. In comparison the Gujarati edition reads almost poetic in places and extremely strong in its presentation. The local idioms and phrases deployed are also important as they represent a certain world view. Their English equivalent is no match whatsoever. Gandhi must have had a tough time doing the first translation himself.  Another problem seems to be that other Indian (and perhaps foreign) languages would have used the English rather than the Gujarati as the base (at least that seems to be the case in Tamil edition), if this is the case, then there are quite a few issues that need to be looked into. 

Immediately on the heels of the BJP discovering Hind Swaraj comes the following pronouncement by the BMS. Someone powerful in the sangh parivar must have recommended this to the others is very clear. National Executive Committee of Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) that met in New Delhi on January 29 urged the UPA government to urgently call a labour tripartite meeting together with all stakeholders to discuss the impact of external financial crisis on India and its labour sector. “India should pursue an economic policy that is based on our ethos. Consumerist greed or desire-based economics has to be desisted. A paradigm shift is needed in developmental strategies, basics of which are found in Deendayal Upadhyaya’s Integral Human Philosophy, Gandhiji’s Hind Swaraj and Thengadiji’s Third Way,” the committee said in a resolution adopted at the meeting. BMS also decided to hold seminars on the issue all over the country by its state and industrial federations.   

Looks like the Centenary of Hind Swaraj has finally become mainstream and politicians too have started talking of it - Here is an interesting note on BJP's President citing Hind Swaraj in the national executive meeting in Nagpur few days ago. BJP president Rajnath Singh dwelt at length on Gandhi’s seminal work Hind Swaraj for two days. He also mentioned one of the party’s founders, Deendayal Upadhyay, known for propounding the thesis of “Integral Humanism”, in the same breath, and argued that “India’s future must be centred around their vision of development”.