Note on Code Swaraj
Hind Swaraj
Hind Swaraj was a book Gandhi wrote in 1909. He was returning by boat from London and was about to get much more serious in South Africa, bringing his satyagraha campaign to a startingly successful conclusion, but only at the cost of great suffering and sacrifice. I think Gandhi was trying to get straight in his own head what he believed. For nine days on the SS Kildonan Castle, Gandhi wrote furiously. When his right hand cramped up, he switched to his left hand. When he published the book, he put in big letters on the cover the words “No Rights Reserved.”
The book is a strange but brilliant book. Gandhi had many ideas, some of which made sense to his friends, others did not. Nehru and Tagore never really liked the book. There are some ideas that seem crazy to me today, such as “hospitals are institutions for propagating sins,” but even with such a stark statement, one has to admit that Bapu certainly had a point. Even if you don’t agree with every word in the book, it presents a compelling catalog of the problems Gandhi thought India and Indians should face, and a compelling theory of how to deal with those problems.
Gandhi posed one answer. Maybe this wasn’t the right answer, it certainly was not the only answer. But it was a coherent answer, and it was perhaps his first complete statement about how to effect a fundamental change in the world. He of course continued to state and restate how that change should occur, and the 100 volumes of the Collected Works show the tremendous scope of his writing and how his thoughts evolved. But for me, Hind Swaraj has always had a special place on my bookshelf as a powerful message put to print. It shows the power of the pamphlet and why everybody should be a printer to propogate ideas.
Ever since I first read Hind Swaraj, the words “Code Swaraj” have been rattling around in my head. The idea of Hind Swaraj, Indian Self-rule, is both a concrete goal and a big goal. Something aspirational, but also something that was attainable. Something real. Something concrete. It is one of the key symbols of the fight for independence. Words matter, and the words “Hind Swaraj” instantly meant something to people who heard it. The words became a symbol of something big, a common purpose.
Gandhi introduced us to other concepts as well. A satyagraha is a struggle, but not simply a vain, meandering struggle against all that is good. A satyagraha is a specific struggle, one with a concrete goal such as the making of salt in defiance of a specific regulation.
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