The Gandhian Way: Replies To The Editor’s Questionnaire

Summary

This January 31, 1965 feature in The Illustrated Weekly of India gathers a wide range of responses to five questions about Gandhi: whether he could have served as Prime Minister without compromising his principles; whether his personal morality was too demanding; whether non-possession and poverty conflict with modern ideas of progress and prosperity; how far independent India upheld his teachings; and whether non-violence remains relevant amid the nuclear threat. The contributors reach no single verdict. Many argue that Gandhi’s uncompromising moral and political commitments would have made ordinary prime-ministerial office impossible, while others suggest that he might have served as a practical counsellor or adapted his methods without abandoning his essential principles.