Gandhi's intent with Hind Swaraj

Over the course of one week in 1909, while aboard a vessel bound for South Africa from England, a slender, quiet lawyer named Mahatma Gandhi composed Hind Swaraj. Gandhi's intent is encourage Indians to take pride of their own identity as a civilization and culture., a nationalistic manifesto outlining India’s need for home rule. Heavily disheartened with recent efforts towards securing Indian rights from the overbearing English, Gandhi wrote with hyperbole and flourish, denouncing Western government and civilization whilst glorifying Indian history, culture and above all, India’s capacity for swaraj.

This elusive term is the core of Gandhi’s argument against embracing the English life of ‘civilized’ convenience and luxury, and marks a note worthy distinction between Gandhi’s version of Indian society and that of the West. For Gandhi, swaraj means individual discipline, restraint from passion and indulgence and acceptance of responsibility. He does not simply seek to apply swaraj on an individual level; he means for the concept to be accepted by India as a nation. In solidifying this point, he describes modern civilization of the West as corrupt; it is without strength, for no outdoor labor is performed, without order for her Parliament is weak and ineffectual, and without spirit, for bodily welfare is the object of the English civilized life. Therefore, Gandhi declares, England should not be accepted as a model of government or life style, but be replaced by pride in Indian tradition and spirit.

The measured dialogue between Reader and Editor serves as the framework through which Gandhi seeks to discredit accepted terms of civilization and denounce the English. These principle characters amply assist in the development o...

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...and, yet in generalizing, Gandhi only succeeds in weakening his case against Western Civilization. For it is impossible for such sins to be totally non-exist in India, even before direct English influence, and therefore forces the two nations to be equal in this respect. Gandhi is placing India on too high a pedestal to claim credence.

The intent of Gandhi in Gandhi's inten was to remove the India he loved from trusting in the greatness and infallibility of Western Civilization and to encourage her to take pride in India’s own identity as a civilization and culture. His enthusiasm slightly exaggerates the grandeur of India and accounts for some margin of error in his esteem for his homeland, but Gandhi’s overall message is sound and wise; India must be proud of her heritage and mindful of sacrifice, for by these means, true freedom and true swaraj will be reached.