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{{short description|Self-rule concept and movement in India}}
{{about|the concept popularised by [[Mahatma Gandhi]]|the general usage of the term|Self-governance|other uses|Swaraj (disambiguation)}}
{{Use Indian English|date=February 2016}}
[[Image:Dayananda Saraswati.jpg|thumb|Dayanand Saraswati]]
'''Swarāj''' ({{lang-hi|[[wikt:स्वराज|स्वराज]]}} ''[[wikt:स्वयं|swa-]]'' "self", ''[[wikt:raj|raj]]'' "rule") can mean generally [[self-governance]] or "self-rule", and was used synonymously with "home-rule" by [[Maharishi]] [[Dayanand Saraswati]] and later on by [[Mohandas Gandhi|Mahatma Gandhi]],<ref>''[[Hind Swaraj or Indian Home Rule]]'', Gandhi, 1909</ref> but the word usually refers to Gandhi's concept of [[Indian independence movement|Indian independence]] from foreign domination.<ref>[http://www.swaraj.org/whatisswaraj.htm What is Swaraj?]. Retrieved on July 12, 2007.</ref> Swaraj lays stress on governance, not by a hierarchical government, but by self-governance through individuals and [[community building]]. The focus is on political [[decentralisation]].<ref>Parel, Anthony. ''Hind Swaraj and other writings of M. K. Gandhi''. Cambridge: [[Cambridge University Press]], 1997.</ref> Since this is against the political and social systems followed by [[UK|Britain]], Gandhi's concept of Swaraj advocated India's discarding British political, economic, bureaucratic, legal, military, and educational institutions.<ref>[http://www.swaraj.org/whatisswaraj.htm What is Swaraj?]. Retrieved on March 3, 2007.</ref> [[S. Satyamurti]], [[Chittaranjan Das]] and [[Motilal Nehru]] were among a contrasting group of Swarajists who laid the foundation for [[parliamentary democracy]] in India.

Although Gandhi's aim of totally implementing the concepts of Swaraj in India was not achieved, the voluntary work organisations which he founded for this purpose did serve as precursors and role models for people's movements, voluntary organisations, and some of the non-governmental organisations that were subsequently launched in various parts of India.<ref name="What Swaraj meant to Gandhi">[http://www.mkgandhi.org/articles/swaraj.htm What Swaraj meant to Gandhi]. Retrieved on September 17, 2008.</ref> The student movement against oppressive local and central governments, led by [[Jayaprakash Narayan]], Udit Swaraj and the [[Bhoodan movement]], which presaged demands for land reform legislation throughout India, and which ultimately led to India's discarding of the [[Zamindari system]] of land tenure and social organisation, were also inspired by the ideas of Swaraj.

==Key concepts==
{{Wikisource|Hind Swaraj|Swaraj}}
[[Swami Dayanand Saraswati]], also known as "Nāri-Shudra-Vedoddharak Maharashtra Dev Dayanand Saraswati founder of the [[Arya Samaj]] and a [[Hindu]] reformer, defined ''swaraj'' as the "administration of self" or "democracy". Swami Dayanand Saraswati, beginning with the premise that God had created people free to perform any work they were inclined to choose, questioned the legitimacy of the [[British Raj|British colonial rule in India]]. In the Swami's view, ''swaraj'' was the basis for the [[Indian independence movement]]. [[Dadabhai Navroji]] claimed that he had learnt the word ''swaraj'' from the ''[[Satyarth Prakash]]'' of Saraswati.{{cn|date=September 2016}}

Swaraj warrants a stateless society. According to Mahatma Gandhi, the overall impact of the state on the people is harmful. He called the state a "soulless machine" which, ultimately, does the greatest harm to mankind.<ref>Jesudasan, Ignatius. ''A Gandhian theology of liberation''. Gujarat Sahitya Prakash: Ananda India, 1987, pp 236-237.</ref> The purpose of the state is that it is an instrument for the service of the people. However, Gandhi feared that a state moulded with such an aim would ultimately abrogate the rights of the citizens and arrogate to itself the role of grand protector, and would demand abject acquiescence from them. This would create a paradoxical situation where the citizens would be alienated from the state and at the same time enslaved to it, which, according to Gandhi, was demoralising and dangerous. If Gandhi's close acquaintance with the working of the state apparatus [[Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi in South Africa|in South Africa]] and [[Indian independence movement|in India]] strengthened his suspicion of a centralised, monolithic state, his intimate association with the [[Indian National Congress|Congress]] and its leaders confirmed his fears about the [[Corruption in India|corrupting influence of political power]] and his scepticism about the efficacy of the [[Politics of India|party systems]] of power politics (due to which he resigned from the Congress on more than one occasion only to be persuaded back each time) and his study of the [[British parliamentary system]]s convinced him that [[representative democracy]] was incapable of meting out justice to people.<ref>''Hind Swaraj''. M.K. Gandhi. Chapter V</ref>

Gandhi thought it necessary to evolve a mechanism to achieve the twin objectives of empowering the people and 'empowering' the state. It was for this that he developed the two pronged strategy of resistance (to the state) and reconstruction (through voluntary and participatory social action).{{fact|date=February 2015}}

Although the word ''Swaraj'' means "self-rule", Gandhi gave it the content of an integral revolution that encompasses all spheres of life: "At the individual level Swaraj is vitally connected with the capacity for dispassionate self-assessment, ceaseless self-purification and growing self-reliance."<ref>M. K. Gandhi, Young India, June 28, 1928, p. 772.</ref> Politically, swaraj is self-government and not good government (for Gandhi, good government is no substitute for self-government) and it means a continuous effort to be independent of government control, whether it is foreign government or whether it is national. In other words, it is sovereignty of the people based on pure [[moral authority]]. Economically, Swaraj means full economic freedom for the toiling millions. And in its fullest sense, Swaraj is much more than freedom from all restraints, it is self-rule, self-restraint, and could be equated with ''moksha'' or [[salvation]].<ref>"M. K. Gandhi, Young India, December 8, 1920, p.886 (See also Young India, August 6, 1925, p. 276 and Harijan, March 25, 1939, p.64.)</ref>

Adopting Swaraj means implementing a system whereby the state machinery is virtually nil, and the real power directly resides in the hands of people. Gandhi said: "Power resides in the people, they can use it at any time."<ref>Jesudasan, Ignatius. ''A Gandhian theology of liberation''. Gujarat Sahitya Prakash: Ananda India, 1987, pp 251.</ref> This philosophy rests inside an individual who has to learn to be master of his own [[Self (spirituality)|self]] and spreads upwards to the level of his community which must be dependent only on itself. Gandhi said: "In such a state (where swaraj is achieved) everyone is his own ruler. He rules himself in such a manner that he is never a hindrance to his neighbour."<ref>Murthy, Srinivas.''Mahatma Gandhi and Leo Tolstoy Letters''. Long Beach Publications: Long Beach, 1987, pp 13.</ref> He summarised the core principle like this: "It is Swaraj when we learn to rule ourselves."<ref>[[M. K. Gandhi]]. ''Hind Swaraj or Indian Home Rule''. Ahmedabad, Gujarat: Navajivan Publishing House, 1938.</ref>

Gandhi explained his vision in 1946: {{quote|Independence begins at the bottom... A society must be built in which every village has to be self-sustained and capable of managing its own affairs... It will be trained and prepared to perish in the attempt to defend itself against any onslaught from without... This does not exclude dependence on and willing help from neighbours or from the world. It will be a free and voluntary play of mutual forces... In this structure composed of innumerable villages, there will be ever-widening, never-ascending circles. Growth will not be a pyramid with the apex sustained by the bottom. But it will be an oceanic circle whose center will be the individual. Therefore, the outermost circumference will not wield power to crush the inner circle but will give strength to all within and derive its own strength from it.<ref>Murthy, Srinivas.''Mahatma Gandhi and Leo Tolstoy Letters''. Long Beach Publications: Long Beach, 1987, pp 189.</ref> }}

Gandhi was undaunted by the task of implementing such a [[utopian]] vision in India. He believed that by transforming enough individuals and communities, society at large would change. He said: "It may be taunted with the retort that this is all Utopian and, therefore not worth a single thought... Let India live for the true picture, though never realised in its completeness. We must have a proper picture of what we want before we can have something approaching it."<ref>Parel, Anthony. ''Hind Swaraj and other writings of M. K. Gandhi''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997, p. 189.</ref>

==After Gandhi==

After Gandhi's assassination [[Vinoba Bhave]] formed the Sarva Seva Sangh at the national level and Sarvodya Mandals at the regional level to the carry on integrated village service — with the end purpose of achieving the goal of Swaraj. Two major nonviolent movements for socio-economic and political revolution in India: the [[Bhoodan movement]] led by [[Vinoba Bhave]] and the [[Bihar Movement|Total Revolution movement]] led by [[Jayaprakash Narayan]] were actually formed under the aegis of the ideas of Swaraj.

Gandhi's model of Swaraj was almost entirely discarded by the [[Government of India|Indian government]]. He had wanted a system of a classless, stateless [[direct democracy]].<ref>Bhattacharyya, Buddhadeva. ''Evolution of the political philosophy of Gandhi''. Calcutta Book House: Calcutta, 1969, pp 479.</ref>

Additionally, modern India has kept in place many aspects of British (and Western) influence, including widespread use of the [[English language]], the [[common law]], [[industrialisation]], [[liberal democracy]], [[military organisation]], and [[bureaucracy]].

==Present day==
The [[Aam Aadmi Party]] was founded in late 2012, by [[Arvind Kejriwal]] and some erstwhile activists of [[India Against Corruption]] movement, with the aim of empowering people by applying the concept of Swaraj enunciated by Gandhi, in the present day context by changing the system of governance.<ref>{{cite news|title=With Swaraj in mind, Kejriwal launches Aam Aadmi Party|url=http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/politics/with-swaraj-in-mind-kejriwal-launches-aam-aadmi-party/article4130337.ece|author=BusinessLine Bureau|work=[[The Hindu]]|access-date=November 25, 2018}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Aundh Experiment]]
* [[Opposition to the partition of India]]
* [[Sarvodaya]]
* [[Swadeshi movement]]

== References ==
{{reflist|2}}

==External links==
* [http://www.swaraj.org/ The Swaraj Foundation]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20150525101152/http://www.sanskritjournal.com/archives/2015/vol1issue4/PartA/Sanskrit-1-3-61.pdf]

{{Indian independence movement}}
{{Gandhi}}

[[Category:Indian independence movement]]
[[Category:Philosophical movements]]
[[Category:Anarchist theory]]
[[Category:Community building]]
[[Category:Gandhism]]

Swaraj - Revision history

->589q at 08:54, 9 January 2022