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1971 27: 3India Quarterly: A Journal of International AffairsB. N. Ganguli

Lenin & Gandhi

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LENIN GANDHIbB. N. Ganguli

SHOULD it be taken as a mere coincidence that the Gandhi Centenaryand the Lenin Centenary have synchronised? This coincidence wouldhave a fruitful aspect if we t ry to understand both Lenin and Gandhi asgreat men who moved vast masses of people on a continental scale andgalvanized them into social and political action.Great men like Lenin and Gandhi cannot but show certain strikingsimilarities, which according to ones inclination may be described eithe r asthe greatest comm on measure or the lowest comm on multiple of theirgreatness. Understand ing means emphasizing the points of agreementrather than the points of difference. While we are engaged in recallingthe greatness of both these leaders, it should be possible to appreciate therelevance of both to the modern world as well as the measure of their great-ness in their respective historica l contexts.SERIOUS POLrnC.5Lenin once said, Politics begin where the masses are; not where thereare thousands but where there are millions, that is where serious politicsbegin. Lenin began serious politics where he thought it should begin.For the same reason Gandhi also began politics where he thought it shouldbegin. Indeed, serious politics began in ou r country, only when G andh iappeared on the Scene of Indian politics. Here was an Indian leader whosaid Power resides in the people either through their arms o r through civildi~obedience~.Lenins millions were magnified into many hund reds ofmillions in India. A Western historian said, Millions of discontentedpeasants in thousands of villages are a fac tor which no historian will ignore.The politics of Lenin and G andhi began with these millions of discontentedpeasants in thousands of villages. When these millions spoke throughLenin and G andh i they made history and historians all over the world havebeen obliged to write that history.I do no t believe in the great man theory of history or the theory that itis rebels who make history. Great men or rebels, bo th owe their significancein the affairs of men to the mass of thei r followers-Lenins millions. Lenin,or Gandhj was an outstanding individual, but he was also a social pheno-menon of outstanding importance. I t can also be otherwise. Marx gave anexample of it in The Eighteenth Bnrmaire The class war in France createdcircumstances and relations which enable a gross mediocrity to strut abou tin heros garb. There are great men-not mediocrities strutting abo utin a heros garb-who achieve greatness by riding on the back of existmgforces ut Lenin and Gandhi were great not only because they helped tomould the existing forces, but also because they helped to create forces byway of challenge to existing authority. They did not just ride to g reatnesson the back of existing forcesI n the centenary year, the present generation has to understand this aspectof their greatness. History does not stand still and I do not thlnk that wecan understand history in terms of the intentions of even the truly grtatmen. Both Lenin and G andh i undoubtedly made a great impact on social naugural Address at the LcniQntenary Commemoration Semipar held at Wew PelhiQ ~ I 6 February 1970

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GANGULI

forces, they even moulded them. It so happens, however, that actions ofindividuals in society produce social forces, the results of which are differentfrom those intended by them. In such a predicament the relevance of greatmen like Lenin and Gandhi has to be understood afresh. This should notturn out to be a mere ritual for the renewal of faith in these great men, butshould prove to be an aid to correct practice under the altered conditions ofthe contemporary world.MASSAWAKFNINGLenins genius consisted in exemplifying in his life-work, Marxs theoryof conscious revolutionary action. Marxs conception of objective lawshad been misinterpreted as determinism, and many have missed the peculiarblend of voluntarism and objectivity which Marx considered as the veryessence of any programm e of social and political action. Lenin unde rstoodMarx perfectly. Indeed , in Lenins life-work we find the keynote of thecontemporary period o f history to use reason not only for understanding theobjective laws governing social and political behaviour, but also for re-shaping men and society by conscious social and po litical action. Did n otLenin devote so much of his dynamic energy to the remoulding of conscious-ness? Gandhi too, in his own way and in his different context, believed inconscious revolutionary action. In his long public career, we come acrossmany instances where his programmes were a remarkable blend of volunt-arism and regard for the constraints of objective situations as they arosefrom time to time. I t has been said that we live in an age of self-conscious-ness. Lenin and G andhi were great self-conscious men. They were flash-points of the consciousness of the masses, who were awakened to a newsense of social and political reality, a t the turn of the cen tury.Lenin had passed away before to quote Lenins phrase) serious politicsbegan in India under Gandhis leadership. But one must admire Leninsperceptive appreciation of the trend toward serious politics in India, evenbefore Gandhis appearance on the scene. I am referring to Lenins re-marks o n the contemporary Indian situation during the political movementthat came in the wake of the Partition of Bengal. During the course ofa brief review in 1908, Lenin said: In India the street is beginning to standup fo r its writers and po litical leaders. He was referring to the streetdemonstrations and the strike in Bombay in protest against the savagepunishment idlicted by the British government on Tilak. Lenin also said,and I quote, Now here in the world-with the exception of Russia-willyou find such abject mass poverty and such chronic starvation among thepeople. He referred also to the age-old plunder of India by the British-the phenomena of economic drain, which had dominated the nationalisteconomic thinking in India. This was particularly true ofDadabhai Naoroji,and before him had been given a formulation by M arx in The Capital.PEACEFUL CO-EXISTENCELenin had a very sensitive and remarkably wise understanding of theproblems of Asian colonies of the Western imperialists. Prior to WorldWar I Lenin had said: Everywhere in Asia a mighty democratic move-ment is growing, spreading and gaining in strength. The bourgeoisie thereis as yet siding with the people against reaction. Hundreds of millions ofpeople are awakening to life, light and freedom. Lenin did no t see Asiathrough the coloured glasses of the West to him Asia was not a continentsteeped in oriental barbarism. Referring to a case in which a n Indianservant-girl had been denied British justice, Lenin said, The European

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LENIN A N D GANDHI

spirit has already awakened in Asia; the people of Asia have become demo-cratic-minded. Lenin was incredibly perceptive and realistic when hesaid in 1912: En Asia the re is still a bourgeoisie capable of championingsincere, militant, consistent democracy, a worthy comrade of Frances greatmen of Enlightenment and leaders of the close of the 18th century. Inthe context of economically backward countries with predominantly peasantmasses, Lenin recognised that the path of progress will be multi-linear andthat the oppressed nations will contribute something of their own to thedifferent forms of dem ocracy, different forms of socialism. This theory ofrelativity of development was one of Lenins most fruitful contribution tosocial thought and practice. It is highly significant that as early as 1920,Lenin had asked, What are our plans in Asia? They are the same as inEurope-peaceful co-existence with all peoples . He also said tha t in parti-cular situations peaceful surrender of power by the bourgeoisie is possibleand that violence is, of course, alien to our ideals. I need hardly addtha t these strand s in Lenins thinking are of great contemporary significancein all kinds of objective situations that have arisen in the developing coun-tries of the world.Let me conclude with quoting what Gandhi said about Lenin in 1928,because it strikes the keynote for our celebration of Lenins centenary:The Bolshevik ideal has behind it the purest sacrifice of countless men an dwomen who have given their all for its sake. And a n ideal sanctified by thesacrifice of such master spirits as Lenin, cannot go in vain. The nobleexample of their renunciation will be em blazoned for ever and quicken andpurify the ideal as time passes.