Dr Faisal Devji on 'Mahatma Gandhi, Hinduism, Islam and Nonviolence'
Channel: ORF Mumbai
Date: 2014-04-22

According to Dr Faisal Devji, Gandhiji's admirers have done him a greater disservice than his detractors, making of him an unworldly pacifist who cannot be taken seriously in everyday political life. This talk will contest that narrative by showing how the Mahatma thought about violence and nonviolence in utterly unsentimental ways.

Focusing on the storied rivalry between Hindus and Muslims in India, the talk deals with the Mahatma's interventions and statements on a number of celebrated instances of communal violence. In particular it looks at the Khilafat Movement and its aftermath, the Partition of India and the first Indo-Pakistani war.

The talk argues that a new harmonious engagement between Hindus and Muslims in India (and among countries in South Asia), based on the ethical underpinnings of the syncretic religious traditions of the region, will have a big transformative impact on the world at large.