To examine the extent to which Gandhi’s experiences in South Africa shaped his political ideas and ideologies, we must first look at the experiences which mobilized Gandhi to enforce change. The Black Act provided Gandhi with an opportunity to become politically mobile and apply his political and spiritual ideologies to a worthy cause. Secondly, we will examine his experiments in communal living and how he implemented his ideas and practices on a small scale. Tolstoy farm was a diverse, experimental community in which Gandhi implemented the concepts of satyagraha, pluralism and tolerance in harmony. Finally, we will see how this small-scale experiment led him to bring his larger idea of nationalism to fruition. Through these experiences the hind Swaraj is born and Gandhi begins to consider nationalism and his ideologies and practices as a way of unifying India and a form of nationalism.
The Black Act.
The Transvaal Asiatic Registration Act, known commonly as the Black Act saw a series of strict legislation brought into place where Indians were mandated to register and provide finger prints, like criminals, to restrict movement of Indians. Many saw this is an “unprecedented attack on Indian rights and dignity” (Tidrick, 2013, 74).
Prior to the Black Act, Tidrick (2013) distinguishes Gandhi’s earlier political activity from 1984-1906 as the “conventional kind” (Tidrick, 2013, 25) in which he learned valuable skills in organization, persuasion, tactical maneuver and negotiation. The Black Act was a catalyst for defiance against the Transvaal government, among the Indian community and from this Gandhi recognized an opportunity to apply his political and spiritual ideologies to a worthy cause (Tidrick, 2013, 75).
Gandhi was a prominent influencer through the ‘Indian Opinion’ which he claims served as a weekly newsletter and a way of educating and engaging Indians of the events in South Africa, during this time (Fischer, 1962). He was not, however, considered a Leader of the British Indian Protest Movement until his return from a London delegation where the responsibility for negotiations fell on him (Tidrick, 2013, 78). His pleas to the delegation were subsequently ignored and provoked Gandhi to mobilize the Indian population.
Beyond this point, Gandhi begins to implement the concept of satyagraha. It is unclear which shapes the other but there are threads of nationalism and pluralism throughout the concept of satyagraha and within his own writing. He states that “No race or community has ever achieved anything without the communal spirit” (Fischer, 1962 pg 66). The ideals and practices of satyagraha would not have been possible to implement without the backdrop of a unifying cause such as the Black Act, due to the vast diversity within the Indian population of South Africa. Gandhi’s belief in pluralism, though never explicitly expressed, allows his campaigns to be all encompassing. In his autobiography, he claims to see no distinction between classes, races or religions (Fischer, 1962 57). His faith lends itself to his political advancement in his belief that we are all ‘children of one and the same creator’ (Fischer, 1962 pg 83) which is paramount in his efforts to unify Indians across South Africa against the Black Act. Tidrick (2013) states that ‘through the concept of satyagraha, Gandhi’s spiritual and political aspirations were united’ (pg 82).
Tolstoy Farm
Tolstoy farm was a diverse, experimental community in which Gandhi implemented the concepts of satyagraha, pluralism and tolerance in harmony. This was the basis for what he intended take to India.
“Phoenix and Tolstoy farm established Gandhi as a political and moral leader” (Tidrick, 2013, 82). Gandhi formed two ashrams in South Africa which were fundamental in his plan to reform India. Gandhi began to consider a return to a traditional Indian way of life that nurtured spirituality and community living over materialism and modernization. Phoenix and Tolstoy farms acted as experimental communities. Phoenix was developed first and later Tolstoy farm was established with the practical purpose of housing the families of incarcerated satyagrahi’s (Fischer, 1962, 91). Tolstoy farm was a stricter commune and more tailored to the practice and pursuit of Satyagraha and for this reason our focus for this essay resides here.
Gandhi practiced and implemented religious pluralism on Tolstoy Farm. All were encouraged to study their own religious texts but also to practice tolerance towards other religions, Gandhi believed “while they must remain absolutely true to their own faiths, they should regard with equal respect those of their fellow-pupils” (Hunt, 2009). Both males and females were educated together at Tolstoy, where tolerance was encouraged and harmonious living was paramount. Those at Tolstoy farm “learned to live together like blood brothers” (Hunt, 2009). This experiment in communal living gave Gandhi an opportunity to practice his leadership of a religiously diverse group and to unify them in a common goal, the pursuit of Satyagraha. Tolstoy farm provided him with practice of developing a ‘committed group of satyagrahis’(Hunt, 2009), which he intended to bring to India. The nature of Satyagraha as a tolerant and pluralistic ideology would form the basis of Gandhi’s leadership in India as he attempted to unify a religiously diverse territory and encourage a sense of nationalism for the pursuit of Indian Independence. His experiments in Tolstoy farm served as training grounds for a new harmonious and tolerant leadership of the people of India (Bhana, 1975).
Indian Nationalism
Through Gandhi’s experiences in South Africa, the Hind Swaraj was born. In it, he envisions India as a Praja and begins to consider the ideologies practiced at Tolstoy farm on a bigger scale as a unifying force of Indian nationalism.
While on a ship returning to South Africa, Gandhi wrote ‘Hind Swaraj’, a ‘key document in [his] discovery of himself as an Indian nationalist” (Bhosale, 2009). Gandhi began to form his idea of a Praja based on his beliefs and experiences. Bhosale (2009) states that Praja meant to Gandhi an “idea of people of community”, which resonates from his practice at Tolstoy Farm, where he imagined the residents as one joint communal family. He emphasized strongly his pluralistic ideas that Indians are members of Praja first and that secondary to that is their religion, regions and languages (Bhosale, 2009). His experiment with tolerance among a religiously diverse group in Tolstoy Farm came to fruition in his vision of the nation. He saw the spirit of nationality as the uniting force among Indians, and prioritized this idea and believed that “those who are conscious of the spirit of nationality do not interfere with one another religion” (Bhosale, 2009).
Gandhi’s belief that self-realization and self-control benefit the well-being of the entire nation (Bhosale, 2009), reflects the practices of a Satyagrahais pursuit of self-development and realization through rigorous practices and discipline. In his ideal nation, he believed that “soul force and not brute force should be the basis of public order” (bhosale, 2009). Gandhi was not naïve in this ideal as he had implemented mass protests in which violence was punished and passive resistance was paramount, during his time in South Africa (Fischer, 1962).
Bhosale (2009) states that “Gandhi imagined the Indian nation based on the values of communities in his readings of sacred texts” (Bhosale, 2009). The vast amount of political and spiritual texts Gandhi read allowed him to appreciate both modern and ancient ideas. He wished to return to the roots of India. From his reading, he began to question “If we have been endeavoring to destroy what the Indian people have c
arefully nurtured through thousands of years”(Tidrick, 2013). He began to see the power of Indian independence as something that stirs from within. An accumulation of his realizations from writing the Hind Swaraj, to implementing his practice of satyagraha and his spiritual education and influences led Gandhi to the idea of India as a Praja and nationalism as a unifying force.
Conclusion
Gandhi’s experiences with discrimination, such as The Black Act, in South Africa led him to his political purpose. Through the Indian cause, Gandhi came to create and implement his own ideologies of community, satyagraha and pluralism at Tolstoy farm. This eventually lead to the creation of the Hind Swaraj and the ideal of a Praja, the nation of India. Bhosale (2009) states that “It was in south Africa, not in India, that he first acquired his vision of Indian nationalism” This is evident in his development through the experiences he had in South Africa. The seeds of Indian nationalism were sown throughout his time in south Africa meaning that his experiences there to a large extent shaped his political ideologues and practices.