MAHARASTRA NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY , MUMBAI

POLITICAL SCIENCE

SYNOPSIS

M.K.GANDHI.

Submitted to: Mr .MANGESH KADAM

Submitted by: Nanda Rajesh, J.Mahadevan

Pavit Saluja
Introduction

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi- this name means more than “The Father of the Nation” to
any Indian. He was a simple man clad in a white dhoti who inspired millions of people with
his ideologies. A man who fought against injustice using the weapons of satya and dharma. A
man who is and forever will be, respected and remembered all over the world.

But there are many things about this great person that the common man doesn’t know. For
example Gandhi had very diverse views on modernity. He was against labor saving
machinery. He was a staunch supporter of empowering the whole society not just the rich and
privileged. Due to this main reason he was against the economic theories propounded by the
imperialist states. Gandhi also had ideas of an educational scheme of his own which came to
be known as Nai Taleem wherein he talked about inculcating a wide range of social skills and
moral values among children, not just providing textbook knowledge to them.

This particular study revolves around a few lesser known facts about Gandhi which will
provide the reader an insight about the ideologies and revelations of the Mahatma on a
variety of topics and the relevance of his views in today’s world.

Literature review:
HIND SWARAJ- M.K.GANDHI-1909
Hind swaraj is one of the most popular books that reveal great ideologies of Mahatma
Gandhi. The book also possesses the speciality of being originally written by the father of the
nation himself. Hind swaraj is one of the best reference materials that reveal Gandhi’s
original and complete view on matters like modernization of India and on self-rule. Mahatma
Gandhi had views which were totally against modernization of India and he makes it a point
to note down all the consequences the country would have to face, if it advances towards
modernization.
Gandhi also argues that Indian independence is only possible through passive resistance. In
fact, more than denouncing violence, Gandhi argues that it is counter-productive; instead, he
believes, “The force of love and pity is infinitely greater than the force of arms. There is harm
in the exercise of brute force, never in that of pity.” This is essential throughout Hind Swaraj.

HYPOTHESIS:
The modern era today is full of western ideas and thoughts that we actually refer to as
"modernity". But, in India, before the advent of this modern western influence, our leaders
and thinkers had entirely different conceptions and views about life, art of living, society and
its structure, economy of the country, education, etc.
Since one of the very prominent figures in the independence movement in India has been Mr
Gandhi, we have dwelled on his ideas in this project and tried to explain them. The base or
the hypothesis that we take here is the well-known fact that Gandhi was entirely against the
west, western civilization, western influence and the so called modernity. He was a
spiritual person by nature and spirit and that spirituality or religiousness reflected in all
his acts, principles and ideas. Taking this very fact about him as our hypothesis, we base
our research on these grounds to study them in and detailed manner.

Objectives

I. To understand Gandhiji”s exact views on modernity

II. To comprehend his ideas on the modern educational system and how he chose to
reform it
III. To reflect on Gandhian school of Economics and the importance of such an ideology
IV. To understand the relevance and importance of his views in the Indian society at that
time
V. To discuss how Gandhi planned to bring out social change among the masses

Methodology
The information for this research has been gathered from secondary sources. For this
purpose, the researcher had referred to books, journals, articles, and reports to find out the
necessary information. Due to lack of empirical research methods (knowledge derived from
actual experience rather than theory or belief), the research was done by studying the analysis
and records compiled by historians and Gandhi he.

SCOPE OF THE RESEARCH

The scope of a research can extend to points beyond boundaries. You can enlarge and intensify your
research as much as you wish to. Since us as law students have certain limitations with respect to
deadlines and submissions, we have kept the scope of our research large enough to understand,
analyse, draw inferences, compare and explain.
The basic idea behind choosing the theme of Gandhi against modernity is to have a keen insight into
his thoughts, views and feelings. We wished to know the ratio behind his conceptual understandings,
his faiths, philosophies and conduct and how he wanted to apply them for the good of the masses.
This exercise would help us to draw out inferences about his thoughts vies-a-vies the actual situation
at that time, find out till what extent his views opposed modernity, why did they do so and how
relevant were they in terms of the society. Besides this, the scope of this project also extends to the
point of reviewing his thoughts in today's context and discussing about the current problems that may
or may not find their solutions in his ideas.
Since this project tends more towards studying and exploring what existed long back and bringing
those facts into light, it does not have many practical applications unless a new social revolution takes
place in society and people fall back onto gandhian principles. Even then, we have tried to be as
practicable as possible and studied the facts and philosophies to the best of the society's interests.
ETHICAL NORMS:
In the creation of this project, we assure that all sorts of ethical guidelines such as honesty,
objectivity, social responsibility, anonymity and have worked strictly against plagiarism.
All the ideas and thoughts put forward in this project are from original sources written by
Mahatma Gandhi himself and facts stated are all true and approved.
We also respect the anonymity of every person who has been a part of this project and
respecting this fact we have upheld each and everyones privacy.

Limitations
The current study is limited by the source of information available online. Also there isn’t
much practical applicability in these topics.