Hind Swaraj and Other Hindi Writings

275 Words2 Pages
Contrast of Swaraj and European Imperialism Gandhi’s definition of civilization as described in his writing, “Hind Swaraj”, is a complete rebuke of imperialism in that they were completely opposite ideas. Gandhi’s meaning of civilization had the concept of “Swaraj”, meaning a self-rule without the state interrupting. Whereas on the other hand imperialism had driven Great Britain’s desire to colonize other countries that were not as developed. The root of imperialism comes from nationalism; believing that your country is the best out there. This idea leads to imperialism; the desire of territorial and government expansion with one central power for all these territories. With imperialism as the justification, Great Britain colonized India, which ultimately lead to Gandhi’s idea of decentralized, self-governed state. He believed in not a hierarchical government, but rather a distribution of power through everyone. Gandhi believed that the state should be self-governed through the trusting of good morale of all the citizens. All the citizens were to govern themselves in a way where they would not interfere with another person’s happiness. Gandhi’s definition of civilization contradicts imperialism because of the Swaraj beliefs that he implements in his idea of a civilization. The two ideas are on opposite ends of spectrums that is mainly defined in the difference that imperialism demonstrates a strong presence and ruling of the government, whereas Swaraj suggests that the state is self-governed through the moral of each individual. India had various sources of British influence such as, education centers, government rule, military, and more. Swaraj beliefs emphasized that these foreign influences should be rid of, which in turn would end British imperialism in India.
Open Document