Nation-State via Nonviolence: The Gandhian Vision and its Antipode in Pre-partition India

Abstract In this article we probe a historical case study in pre-partition India. We examine the Gandhian ideal of nonviolence and its intersection with his vision of the nation-state, and how this vision was not without opposition. The case study set in the years before the independence of India and its partition reflects an intense clash of two visions on nationalism: secular, as espoused by Gandhi, and religious, as espoused by Iqbal and Jinnah. For Gandhi, a nation-state must have its basis in nonviolence. Nonviolence as an absolute principle or a moral law undergirded the Gandhian worldview on everything including the nation-state. Such a vision dictated that interfaith coexistence and progress could be possible when the inhabitants in a state are satyagrahi s (lovers of truth) and are inclined to follow the ideal of sarvodaya (rise of all). Gandhi forcefully made his case of a secular nation-state until the partition of India and held steadfast to his conviction until the end of his life. In this exploratory study, we examine in detail this Gandhian vision of the nation-state and its opposite view while drawing on collected writings of Gandhi and available secondary resources.