Mahatma Gandhi was born October 2, 1869, in Porbandar, India, and is known for his social activism and the leader of the nationalist movement against the British rule of India. Many consider him the father of his country, even describing him as a ¨Great Soul¨ and famous for his philosophy of nonviolence that has inspired civil rights leaders worldwide.
However, as with all the good ones, someone is bound to dig up some dirt if you are in the public eye. One criticism of Ghandi is that he lacked originality, stating that he only restated old principles in new ways. He mixed different religions, philosophers, and scholars into his ideas differently. At times, he contradicts himself, stating that individuals should be provided the necessities of daily life, yet oppose the socialist principle of nationalization and mass production.
For most of Ghandi's adult life, it is reported that he was racist. Leading civil rights movements in South Africa fighting for the rights of Indians, it has been revealed that his motivation in South Africa involved racism against the local black population. He wanted to ensure the Indians would stand above the local black population and wanted the whites to stay in power.
"Kaffirs are as a rule uncivilized—the convicts even more so. They are troublesome, very dirty and live almost like animals," he wrote in Indian Opinion in 1908.
"Why, of all places in Johannesburg, the Indian location should be chosen for dumping down all kaffirs of the town, passes my comprehension. Of course, under my suggestion, the Town Council must withdraw the Kaffirs from the location. About this mixing of the Kaffirs with the Indians, I must confess I feel most strongly. I think it is very unfair to the Indian population and an undue tax on even the proverbial patience of my countrymen."
Ghandi also corresponded with Hitler during the war. Referring to Hitler as ¨friend¨ and yes, Gandhi was calling for peace, he also stated:
"We have no doubt about your bravery or devotion to your fatherland, nor do we believe that you are the monster described by your opponents."
Ghandi was known for keeping a strict diet, so rigid that it led him to be constipated frequently. However, he also thought that it would curb his appetite for women. With this sort of diet and constipation to deal with his bathroom issues, he said he would invite female companions to visit him while he was on the toilet. He even gave himself enemas twice daily to deal with his bowel issue, and not only gave himself enemas but his female companions, often teenagers.
Ghandi had women around for bathroom companions and as his ¨walking sticks¨. He always kept a pair of girls about to assist him, and they bathed with him and always asked them daily about their bowel movements; I imagine that would be a bit uncomfortable.
His most famous companion was Sushila Nayar; when she was six, she first visited and sat on Ghandi's lap; he requested her to be brought back to him when she was a teenager, and at that moment, she was given to Ghandi as a gift. Her mother did precisely that when Sushila was a teenager and was brought back to him, becoming his companion.
The girls also gave Gandhi nude massages, requesting they use mustard oil and lime juice on him. However, Ghandi did not favor men and women sleeping together; at his Ashram, Ghandi allowed teenagers to sleep nude in his bed, including his niece, claiming that sleeping in the nude tested his chastity.
[we] must put our purity to the ultimate test."
At one point, it became public that he slept in the nude with women, and the public was unhappy, including those close to him. They asked the girls to be removed from his bed; it took several tries before he finally agreed.
He did not allow husband and wife to sleep together at the Ashram, but he did enable little boys and girls to rest together, stating:
"I sent the boys reputed to be mischievous and the innocent young girls to bathe at the same time,"
If the girls misbehaved, he would have their hair chopped off.
With all that he did, you would imagine that he did not have a wife, but he did Kasturba Kapadia when they were teenagers, arranged. They remained married, even though he had relations with other women. Even talking badly about his wife, stating:
"I simply cannot bear to look at Ba's face. The expression is often like that on the face of a meek cow and gives one the feeling as a cow occasionally does, that in her own dumb manner she is saying something."
He could also be partly responsible for his wife's death; he was celibate, living in poverty, and fasting, so he expected his family to do the same. Possibly due to living conditions, she developed pneumonia in 1944, and he did not allow the doctors to treat her with penicillin ¨alien medicine¨. She died shortly after contracting pneumonia. However, when Gandhi got malaria, he let the doctors give him medicine, and he was saved.
Ghandi,mo at one point, was leading a campaign to eradicate all traces of homoerotic traditions that existed in India's Hindu temples as a ¨sexual cleansing¨ program.
Decades after Ghandis acts, many are not calling him racist, and #metoo activists are questioning his sexual practices. However, just because someone has a past that might not align with today's times does not take away from all the good he did, such as helping India with their freedom from British colonel rule in 1947.
He outgrew his racist views and often stated that he was anti-racist and wanted to end discrimination of all kinds. And just as we can find the bad about people, we too can see the good. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi died on January 30, 1948, assassinated by a Hindu extremist who objected to Gandhi's tolerance for Muslims.
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