Is Gandhi relevant for imagining the future trajectories of democracy in India? I do not want to explore this question in typical Gandhian fashion to express my gratitude to the father of the nation on his birth anniversary. Instead, I want to take up the challenge posed by Yogendra Yadav for all of us in one of his recent articles in this newspaper (IE, “Democracy needs renewal. Our idea of Swaraj offers some answers,” September 22). Yadav has forcefully argued that we need to employ Gandhi, and other thinkers and practitioners of modern India, as “resources” to reimagine a more egalitarian futuristic institutional architecture.

Yadav’s invitation also points towards an interesting paradox. Gandhi is usually commemorated as a symbol of protest politics. People’s movements, campaigns led by civil liberty groups and popular protests of various kinds recognise the significance of Gandhian techniques, especially the non-violent Satyagraha. That has been the reason Gandhi’s image as an activist continues to survive even eight decades after his death. Despite being celebrated as a successful protester, Gandhi is not seen as a relevant figure for any serious discussion on institutional-building. Even the admirers of Gandhi prefer to remain silent on this issue.

It is true that Gandhi had always been critical of the idea of the modern state. He preferred to call himself a philosophical anarchist; he celebrated his inconsistencies and context-specific responses to emerging questions of public life. Hind Swaraj (1909) is the only book that he refused to amend, change, update or edit. These examples certainly underline Gandhi’s non-conformist attitude. Yet, one........

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