Gandhi: Behind the Mask of Divinity is a book by United States Army officer G. B. Singh. The book was written in biographical form nearly 60 years after the assassination of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, and challenges his image as a saintly, benevolent, and pacifistic leader of Indian independence, told through Gandhi's own writings and actions over the course of his life. The book claims that Gandhi emulated racism from the Hindu ideology of caste towards the blacks of South Africa and the Untouchables, instigated ethnic hatred against foreign communities, and, to this end, was involved in covering up the killing of American engineer William Francis Doherty.
 Cover page by Prometheus Books. | |
| Author | Colonel G. B. Singh |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Nonfiction |
| Publisher | Prometheus Books |
Publication date | April 2004 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print Hardcover & Paperback |
| Pages | 356 |
| ISBN | 978-1-57392-998-1 |
| Followed by | Gandhi Under Cross Examination |
Singh puts forward that the portrayal of Gandhi as a great leader is "the work of the Hindu propaganda machine" and Christian clergy with ulterior motives; and, furthermore, it was based on irrationality and deception which historians have failed to critically examine.
Reception
editProfessor Manfred Steger, author of Gandhi's Dilemma: Nonviolent Principles And Nationalist Power, wrote a review of the book in the December 2005 issue of The Historian.[1] He stated that the author doesn't offer hard evidence for the first thesis in the book, the alleged "Hindu propaganda machine", and found Singh's "eagerness to accuse" without raising or answering relevant questions "deeply disturbing". At the same time, Steger said that the author offers "much better evidence" for the second thesis, Gandhi's racist attitude.[1] He stated, "Perhaps one of the strongest sections of the book is the author's examination of pertinent primary and secondary literature revealing Gandhi's attitude toward black Africans during his two decades in South Africa". Steger noted that numerous other "balanced" critiques of Gandhi exist, such as the works by Ved Mehta, Partha Chatterjee, and Joseph Alter. In comparison, Steger concluded, that the book was a "one-sided attack" on Gandhi, without offering the larger, more complex picture of Gandhi's ethical and political engagements, thus turning it into a "strident polemic".[1]
In his book, Gandhi's Philosophy and the Quest for Harmony, the author Anthony Parel termed Singh's book as "scurrilous", "crude bias", and "deplorable ignorance".[2]
See also
edit
References
edit- ^ a b c Steger, Manfred B. (2005-12-05). "Gandhi: Behind the Mask of Divinity (Book review)". The Historian. 67 (4). Phi Alpha Theta: 781. ISSN 0018-2370.
- ^ Parel, Anthony (2006). Gandhi's Philosophy and the Quest for Harmony. Cambridge University Press. p. 114. ISBN 978-0-521-86715-3. OCLC 69484298.