Gandhi was a master of the political deployment of ritual

Assorted tweets:

Modi is a master of employing ritual to political ends, this requires refinement.

No, it is about more than 'political effectiveness'. If you look at the royal rituals, the day to day itenary of our kings, and so on, you will see that the ritualization of politics is integral to the H conception of politics itself. Gandhi's ritualization of his politics

https://twitter.com/ArmchairPseph/status/1147901723903590400?s=19

was not some cynical ploy, it was the natural instinct of a H leader. Gandhi succeeded because he was less westernized than Savarkar, and could deploy a mode of politics that Savarkar was incapable of. Before Gandhi, Tilak had done this successfully.

Sadly, after that, we got a Gandhi rather than someone who could take forward Tilak's work. But at the same time, it was only a Westernized mind like Savarkar's that could have conceptualized Hindutva, the idea of Hindus as a political community, as a nation.

These are Western (the idea of nation-state) and Abrahmic (the idea of a religious identity being also a political one) concepts, appropriated for use by dharmikas as weapons. Only a Westernized mind could have done it. Which is also why nobody in the 'traditionalist' camp could

have done it. Islam could accept a Jinnah as its leader readily because the Ummah has always been a political community, Savarkar was telling Hindus to become one, in the manner of the Ummah, because it was only in that way that the Ummah can be countered.

While a Savarkar could create and germinate that idea, a Savarkar cannot popularize it to Hindus, what Hindutva needed was a leader who could deploy Gandhi-like ritualized, sacralized politics to instill the idea into Hindus.

Modi could have been that, but he seems to have refused the mantle.

Related: Gandhi was a master of the political deployment of ritual too. https://t.co/BOVlPpz9gy

Jinnah became leader of Indian Muslims, Hindus chose Gandhi over Savarkar (who was like Jinnah in that to him Hinduism was first and foremost a political identity). That too is very telling, about both Islam and Hinduism. https://t.co/VlPUCue243

https://twitter.com/ArmchairPseph/status/1147895726963396608?s=19

He is not cognizant of civilizational stakes, he is our Eisenhower

https://twitter.com/doubtinggaurav/status/1147905845012811776?s=19

Eisenhower was v much conscious of the civilizational stakes

His tenure kept the incipient Communist tendencies within US at bay

Never opposed McCarthy until the point when McCarthy went out of control

Also a full fledged supporter of the containment strategy

https://twitter.com/shrikanth_krish/status/1147908743427952642?s=19

None of you will agree, but Modi's public display of humility may be out of his genuine urge for atonement. With age one realises and he seems to be willing to even risk his chair owing to drastic revisionism. Some intellectual may be responsible for this U-turn. @SudheenKulkarni

https://twitter.com/NathTusar/status/1147951806120546304?s=19

Islam doesn't exist by itself; people are born into it continuously. So it's about human beings and there's no uniformity in practice. It's easy to criticise it in an abstract sense but by itself Islam can't do anything. It is a methodological discrepancy. https://t.co/NtZOPetPVc

https://twitter.com/SavitriEraParty/status/1147956632850092032?s=19

My point is, blaming Islam as an abstract entity is anomalous. Local degeneration or deformations should be examined individually. So, there should be no blanket condemnation involving billions of people. This much fairness is warranted.

https://twitter.com/NathTusar/status/1147960079976525824?s=19

See I'm arguing that whatever happened in the past is by Monarchs who are beyond Democratic or legal interrogation. So when you bring in Islam as an entity or agency, it's anomalous. What the kings did or didn't should be the point of attention but is of no avail. @fourfoldvision

https://twitter.com/NathTusar/status/1109882339033702400?s=19

I reiterate that past Kings are beyond the purview of Democratic interrogation. Discussing them is like wrestling with ghosts. Conflating issues won't bring clarity but your one point agenda is to target the people of a particular religion disregarding centuries of co-existence.

Just like Marx shouldn't be blamed for what Jyoti Basu did to WB, similarly all wrong actions of men shouldn't be put at the door of their religion. Both of us adore The Mother but differ. So perspectives relating to power, politics, self-interest are at fault. Such nuance needed

https://twitter.com/NathTusar/status/1109888094726053888?s=19

Youth symbolises hope and optimism; it also nurtures change. With onset of decline in mid age clinging to past and nostalgia dominate. Legitimising it as preservation of tradition adds to self esteem. Such a defence mechanism buttressed by political ideology turns out to be toxic

https://twitter.com/SavitriEraParty/status/1148132264619831297?s=19

the Orchid and the rOse: Sri Aurobindo's fame as a mystic obscured his importance as a poet and aesthetician https://t.co/r3Be8GwJYe

@NathTusar, Director, Savitri Era Learning Forum (SELF) #FiveDreams #WorldUnion

Savitri Era of those who adore,

Om Sri Aurobindo & The Mother.

https://twitter.com/SavitriEraParty/status/1148120736667561985?s=19

"I feel sorry that Sri Aurobindo 's Future Poetry is not taking wings. I mean, neither  his poetry is studied in any great systematic way nor much of the expected kind being written. Can there be a way out?" Mail recvd this morning from RY Deshpande .

https://twitter.com/GoutamGhosal2/status/1148060687643492352?s=19

RY DESHPANDE is unquestionably the greatest living Savitri scholar in the planet.  Let this be a push for all of us to try to do well.

Appreciate his concern but none has inclination for inward look. Everyone look outward, trying to become a 'baba' sitting in his petty corner, throwing pearls of wisdom, seeing his invisible statue, hearing silent clapping. No better than televangelist, only less known.

https://twitter.com/Suranjan56/status/1148105554738331648?s=19

Sri Aurobindo on The Principle of Free Confederation versus The Idea of Self -Determination: The cases of Finland and Poland. https://t.co/2cFME4PEm0

https://twitter.com/drsbasu2115/status/1148139727599493121?s=19

"The advent of the British in India synchronised with a low ebb of  national vitality. It was the reign of passivity, a moment of tamas, of  the exhaustion of a long endeavour–one that periodically comes upon all  nations." Read more in Renaissance,Vol1(5) https://t.co/maSBFbsj0M

https://twitter.com/AUROSAFIC/status/1148105399427588096?s=19

Very well put

There are so many on the Right who hate Gandhi

Yet never quite acknowledge or even begin to understand his "secret sauce"

He was authentically Indian (or at least perceived as such) in a way that Savarkar wasn't

Very hard for Gandhi-haters to digest. But fact https://t.co/ePbpmUJllf

https://twitter.com/shrikanth_krish/status/1147912196392984576?s=19

Many think it was just "dikhaawa"

I don't quite agree

Notwithstanding all his years in South Africa and England, Gandhi was a Desi. An authentic Desi in so many ways

You sense this only after reading a lot of Gandhi

His autobiography is not read enough by Indians...

His sense of compunction upon his father's death, when he was busy seeking pleasure elsewhere...

And the impact of that incident on his later streak of anti-sensuality and austerity...

That's so very typically Indian

Or that other extract later in his auto-bio, where he declares that a maid's service to her master is superior to the wife's service...

Because the wife's service is in part motivated by romantic love

That's such a uniquely Indian way of analyzing things..

It's a shame that the conservative movement has not quite produced anyone like Gandhi who exuded Indian-ness

Nobody has come close..

The hard drinking Vajpayee? Not even in the same planet in terms of exuding Indian-ness

In fact the only person who has come close since independence is Narendra Modi

Yes...Modi

And that explains his success!

https://twitter.com/shrikanth_krish/status/1147914735247118336?s=19

Absolutely true. Emphasis on Ramanama, Gou Seva, calling for Charkha Yagna, hailing Ramcharitmanas as greatest devotional book, calling Tulasidas as prince among devotees 1/5

Countering Aurobindo on Vibhishana and calling him a Satyagrahi against Ravana, calling Prahlada as the first Satyagrahi, making Narsi bhajans as his prayer cum creed, asking for non cooperation in the lines of Sita against Ravana! 2/5

https://twitter.com/karrama12/status/1148092013150998528?s=19

Justifying Varnashrama dharma as science , hailing Gita as his mother, calling Ahimsa as same practiced by Dileepa against the lion as written by Kalidasa, visiting Temples, calling Padmanabha Swamy temple visit as most memorable 3/5

Modi has similarly used the phrases Janata Janardhan for the masses, campaign for votes as asking Ashirvad from people, terming Technology as mahtmay of technology, making temple visits part of campaign 4/5

60 years’ of original work of the rare duo of Ram Swarup & Sita Ram Goel hardly left a mark on the intellectual scene of our country. Both died largely unsung. It is not a small measure of the regrettable situation... By @hesivh ji for The @dharmadispatch https://t.co/PMuYvosUO8

https://twitter.com/_Bhaarat_/status/1148153297800290306?s=19

This is why free speech is a wonderful thing: the more freely these eminences speak, the more they unravel themselves. 

By Sandeep Balakrishna @dharmadispatch https://t.co/xelv9ESUHc

https://twitter.com/CASandeepSehgal/status/1148150771139010560?s=19

Last month, her ministry launched a programme, “Let’s talk loneliness”, to enable exactly that: encourage people to talk about their feelings and reach out to others. “Just a small hi, how do you do, can help,” says Davies. “The community, as it existed in the eras gone by, is breaking — and we need to do something to fill the gap.”

https://indianexpress.com/article/world/worldwide-problem-must-reach-out-says-uks-minister-of-loneliness-5818992/lite/?__twitter_impression=true

https://twitter.com/madhukishwar/status/1147917781561593856?s=19

“Peers” are a resource that can be tapped into to support a wide variety of people in the mental health system. These are people who have lived experiences of recovery in mental health.

https://t.co/LT4XRC7AP7

https://twitter.com/epw_in/status/1148162306162876416?s=19

#FromTheEditorsDesk: The structural politics that was once characterised by the back-to-back struggles that the toiling masses were forced to undertake has now considerably declined, or is being completely replaced by electoral politics.

https://t.co/DMY6N9VK8Y

https://twitter.com/epw_in/status/1148162306049576962?s=19

This is maybe one of the very first times that a Bollywood mainstream movie has delved into the realities of caste-based violence. Mind you, I say caste-based violence, not caste. - @SumanSaurav92. @ayushmannk @anubhavsinha. #FIIReviews #Article15 https://t.co/zJKzxaokQ6

https://twitter.com/FeminismInIndia/status/1148162305986686977?s=19

Seems like #SandeepVanga has confused love with ownership. In all his defense for slapping your partner or touching them when you want to, there is no mention of consent or a person’s agency. Writes @yamini_pb #KabirSingh https://t.co/aUFfHouOtR

https://twitter.com/SheThePeopleTV/status/1148149526789681152?s=19

[REPLUG] Using the symbolism of 786 in Deewaar, Salim-Javed Halal-ed Hindus thru cinema. Hindus were lulled into the historical reality of their encounters with Islamic rule. 

https://t.co/mqao2bcZgA

https://twitter.com/dharmadispatch/status/1148102569647988736?s=19

Hindi cinema post-1947 became the ideological tool of the Indian state founded on a colonial constitution. Likes of Salim-Javed were peddling Secularism/islamism. Look to Raj Kapoor for the poison of socialism, Awara and Shri 420 specially. @dharmadispatch https://t.co/5LdnXbIuOS

https://twitter.com/vikasdrolia/status/1147984943785451521?s=19

In Tamil Nadu, movies have tremendous power. In a systematic manner, the evangelical forces  has captured the movie industry and is running its pet theme through all the movies: Hinduism is spiritual despotism and facilitates exploitation of TN. https://t.co/EFwKPsbtKN

https://twitter.com/prasannavishy/status/1147886527386570754?s=19

Sakshi (1986) and Mandra (2002) are the fine artistic and literary specimens of Dr. Bhyrappa’s profound meditations over nearly half a lifetime. 

Mandra: The Triumph of Ramkumari https://t.co/TyRSIx2RS3

https://twitter.com/prekshaajournal/status/1148132515913224192?s=19

References:

But, with due respect, the quotation does not reflect is claimed; Gandhiji would have said the same to Muslims too. Non-retaliation & ahimsa were for everyone, not for Hindus alone. But let's move on, shall we? If you disagree, that's fine too. https://t.co/FYUV89AKt7

https://twitter.com/MakrandParanspe/status/1047858382009298944?s=19

Hahaha...the basic truth, which is as old as the hills, is that violence cannot be countered or won by greater violence, but only by non-violence. Yes, it does help to beat up or defeat the bad guys, but then the hard work of reconstruction & peace-making begins all over again. https://t.co/LcVDl5mNGX

https://twitter.com/MakrandParanspe/status/1047898541648044032?s=19

I am not defending Gandhi, but trying to understand him. Quoting him out of context, distorting his views, making him a villain for our own flaws will not help. Millions of Indians voluntarily followed him; many others, including Bose, did not. You are free to choose your path.

https://twitter.com/MakrandParanspe/status/1048938896304693248?s=19 07 Oct 18

Then in the same spirit and logic do not implicate The Mother with any tacit or overt approval of Nehru and Indira outside or without context.

And refrain from telling those who View Gandhi differently that they're wrong and it's a tactical mistake.

https://twitter.com/AloPal/status/1048955599910649862?s=19

There is a lot of good in every person.No human is constructed absolute evil.There r others whose good is the predominant legacy. NOT Gandhi https://t.co/aHhLkqCmlW
https://twitter.com/AloPal/status/880590656434982913?s=19

Gandhi was foolish in giving that advice to Jews.  You will find a lot of worth in him if you stop expecting perfection. https://t.co/y7cxpqKSIb
https://twitter.com/madhukishwar/status/880504687178522624?s=19
Just bcoz Mahatma Gandhi blundered in dealings with Jinnah doesn't diminish his greatness & creative use of SanatanDharma for 20th C battles https://t.co/3iEue4pt6u
https://twitter.com/madhukishwar/status/880354326090219520?s=19

Subhash Chandra Bose? RT @_Mauna_: I count three leaders who actively opposed Gandhi without qualms - Ambedkar, Savarkar & Jinnah.
https://twitter.com/KetPan/status/348061209037246464?s=19
RT @_Mauna_ 28 Gandhi, at the very first opportunity, was given up by his same leaders who had held him up as an exemplar during the Brit Raj
https://twitter.com/SavitriEraParty/status/567732416182108160?s=19
Aurobindo was so right about Gandhi. Aurobindo's blunder was to abdicate his own responsibility to fight Gandhi's pernicious influence.
https://twitter.com/PaulDeoSan/status/348007342719262721?s=19
@SavitriEraParty My point was too many ppl including Aurobindo gave Gandhi a free reign whn thy hd the insight to realize whr he was headed.
https://twitter.com/PaulDeoSan/status/348051100798160897?s=19

@_Mauna_ Sri Aurobindo's major task was trouncing Hitler with his Yogic force. He was surely opposed to Gandhi in many ways but not fully.
https://twitter.com/SavitriEraParty/status/348052694801448960?s=19
@_Mauna_ You are right. But such references are there in Sri Aurobindo's published Autobiographical Writings and allied literature.
Nobel prize can't happen without clutching on to Gandhi narrative. Besides it's not easy to demolish all that has been said in praise of Gandhi. Even saying that Sri Aurobindo was against him won't be wholly correct. How he definitely was an agent of Zeitgeist must be appreciated
https://twitter.com/SavitriEraParty/status/968173887010648064?s=19