Gandhi and the Unspeakable: His Final Experiment with Truth by James W. Douglass

Gandhi and the Unspeakable: His Final Experiment with Truth Reviews

• 
  Nick

  In this little book of about 120 pages, not including notes and acknowledgments, James Douglass simultaneously recounts the evolution of Gandhi's awareness from the origins of his commitment to nonviolence to his final months of life; offers insights nonviolence; tells the story of the successful plot to assassinate Gandhi; and analyzes the complicity of the Indian government in the assassination, along the way describing quite well the mindset of those who convince themselves nonviolence cannot actually accomplish its goals. Whew! With all that crammed in, you'd think this would be a bit of a hard read but Douglass keeps things clear and simple from start to finish.
• 
  Ben

  they'd been trying to get him for decades, he always sent killers away friends. really too bad that the Beatles, et al., while popularizing/fetishizing Hindu culture, didn't care much for the tradition of Gandhi. the methods of the satyagrahi combined with a militant antiwar/labor movement could have leveled mountains. if only he didn't have his own Allen Dulles in Savarkar, who the British magnanimously let loose to oppose him at every turn.
• 
  Tim Hoiland

  If I were to describe an unassuming Indian man with wire-rimmed glasses, wearing a white robe, sitting at his spinning wheel, you’d know exactly who I had in mind: Mohandas Gandhi, one of the most celebrated figures of the twentieth century, who remains an international icon of freedom and peace. He inspired the likes of Martin Luther King and countless other nonviolent activists throughout the world. You can even get a mug with a quote attributed to him at Starbucks.
  
  You’re probably not going to find any coffee shop souvenirs with quotes from Vinayak Savarkar, however, and his name likely doesn’t ring any bells. Yet he and Gandhi were contemporaries, both pushing for India’s independence from the British Empire, both trying to win over the hearts and minds of fellow Indians… but through very different means.
  
  Gandhi and the Unspeakable: His Final Experiment With Truth by Catholic scholar and peace activist James W. Douglass is an exploration of Gandhi’s and Savarkar’s competing visions for the future of India, and the question of whose vision ultimately won...
  
  - See more at:
  http://erb.kingdomnow.org/gandhi-and-...
• 
  Joe

  I'm not sure if this was supposed to be a biography, a report on the assassination of Gandhi, or a discussion of the two main competing forces in India before and after Partition. Regardless, it was a quick read and provides some interesting insights.
• 
  Mike

  A short but essential book: It's essential in the sense that it seeks to illuminate the essence of Gandhi's Satyagraha (truth-force) philosophy, and contrast it with the other major political philosophy of Gandhi's time: religious nationalism.
  
  Satyagraha was developed during Gandhi's time in South Africa fighting for the rights of non-whites there. He was up against the cunning and shrewd General Smuts who was prepared to use violence, lies and propaganda to maintain the colonial power structures. Gandhi came to understand Spirit as an even more powerful force, capable of changing the hearts of one's oppressor so that they became allies. But to activate this potent "truth force" required extraordinary courage - a willingness to suffer and even die for the sake of a true cause. Many of Gandhi's colleagues were killed and Gandhi was beaten almost to death and almost died several times. But it worked! Conscience was awoken in the oppressors - not all of them, but enough to make a real difference.
  
  When Gandhi returned to India he immediately came up against the Hindu Nationalists who were attempting to drive out the British via assassinations and terrorism. Gandhi understood that this was doomed to fail, just as the Indian Mutiny of 1857 had failed. The use of force would just invoke a greater force and oppression in response. Moreover, at a deeper level these tactics of violence were buying into the same philosophy of rule through fear and intimidation that the colonial powers used, and the same belief that one group of people were superior to another. Even if they were successful it would just replace one set of tyrants with another equally prepared to use violence to impose their will on others.
  
  As India's independence struggle progressed, both philosophies (Satyagraha and Hindu Nationalism) were active. The British colonialists relied on "divide and rule" and it suited them to allow the Hindu nationalists to some extent, believing that they could use them and control them (tactics we continue to see being used with disastrous consequences around the world). Gandhi on the other hand was attempting to unite all the common people in a movement of genuine solidarity and care for each other - even holding out an olive branch to the British and an invitation to change and be part of this new society. Satyagraha held up a mirror to the oppressors, forcing them to see the ugliness of their corrupt and violent actions, calling out their hypocrisy and igniting sparks of conscience leading them to change. The book has many examples of people who changed profoundly, shifting from oppressor to ally.
  
  Gandhi knew his assassins. He had known them for decades. At the time of his death he had no concern for protecting himself - he had been ready to die and face death many times before. Gandhi understood that his death may serve his cause even better than his continuing to live. And he was right - the shock of the assassination did help bring an end to the violence between Hindus and Muslims that was plaguing the new nation at that point.
  
  Already by the time of India's independence Hindu nationalists were a political force to be reckoned with. They were in parliament and in the police force, and those forces ensured that Gandhi's assassination was not prevented (the book shows clearly how it could easily have been prevented after a bungled earlier attempt on Gandhi's life) and those forces ensured that the people behind the assassination were never held accountable. Those forces are now ascendant in India and are attempting to re-write India's history downplaying the significance of MK Gandhi.
  
  This book has a wider significance than India's history. We live in an age when tyranny is on the increase, backed by lies, propaganda and violence. Those of us who are awake to this danger need to study the tactics and philosophy of Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Bonhoeffer, Solzhenitsyn and others who opposed tyranny. Protest marches by themselves are not enough!
  
  I highly recommend this book.
• 
  Beth

  I have not read any previous books about Gandhi, although, like most people, I know something about him. I found this book to be both worthwhile and extremely biased.
  The author is not objective at all when it comes to the spiritual nature of Gandhi's mission and methods. It is very clear that the author's own religion and spiritual fervor colors his view of Gandhi and his life.
  Having said that, this book was still an good read to get details about Gandhi, how he thought, his motivations, his actions, and the end results of his work and his life.
• 
  Ramesh Jothilingam

  Truth will set u free
• 
  Dorothy Hynous

  nice and short and informative
  a few really good thoghts