Churchill & Gandhi

Churchill had said:

 

 “It is alarming and also nauseating to see Mr. Gandhi, a seditious Middle [Inner] Temple lawyer, now posing as a fakir of a type well known in the East, striding half-naked up the steps of the Viceregal palace, while he is still organizing and conducting a defiant campaign of civil disobedience, to parley on equal terms with the representative of the King-Emperor.”

One may also be aware that while in London to attend the Round Table Conference, Gandhi wanted to meet Churchill but the latter had refused to see him, though his son Randolph met Gandhi. And then later in July 1944, Gandhi had written to Churchill a letter saying,--

                “Dear Prime Minister, You are reported to have a desire to crush the simple 'naked fakir' as you are said to have described me. I have been long trying to be a fakir and that [too] naked - a more difficult task. I, therefore, regard the expression as a compliment though unintended. I approach you then as such and ask you to trust and use me for the sake of your people and mine and through them those of the world."

An American scholar, Arthur Herman, who had recently tried to trace quite candidly the period-wise relation between the two in his book ‘Gandhi and Churchill: The Epic Rivalry that Destroyed the Empire and Forged Our Age’, says about this letter: “This strange, jocular note was classic Gandhi. It was his effort to reach out to Churchill in the aftermath of their epic battle.” But Churchill never received it and even if he had received it, he could not have done anything, “because to the astonishment of the world, on July 26, 1945, the British voters turned Churchill out of office."

Mr. Churchill is incorrigible, hopelessly out of date, and is getting unpopular day by day. His memoirs might be read for their grandiloquent phraseology, bombast, and nineteenth century English, but no student of history will find his version of recent history a safe guide. The odds are that these memoirs, in course of time, will be rescinded to the dustbin. And as for his malicious attacks on Mahatma Gandhi, we are certain that they will deceive no one. Long after Churchill and his memoirs have been forgotten, humanity will continue to regard Gandhiji as a beacon of peace; and cherish his memory with reverence even as they cherish the memory of Jesus, Buddha and Socrates.

For Gandhi, simplicity was the way of life. When the British invited Gandhi for peace talks, Gandhi saw no particular reason to change his attire, which was same as millions of his fellow countrymen. Gandhi met with Lord Irvin with the advantage of having won a moral victory. "I have caused a great deal for trouble for your government. But as men, we can set aside our differences for welfare of the nation" he said to the immaculately dressed viceroy, on occasion of which Churchill is said to have made his infamous comments.
Churchill, who considered himself a true democrat constantly opposed granting freedom to India. In more ways than one, Gandhi was a much  greater democrat, especially in believing in self-determination of people and the universal equality of mankind. Churchill was to be irritated further. The following year, Gandhi met face to face with Churchill during the Indian round table conference -- "...I have an alternative that is unpleasant to you"  he told Churchill and his clan of imperialists. " India demands complete liberty and freedom...the same liberty that Englishmen enjoy... and I want  India to become a partner in the Empire. I want to partner with the English people not merely for mutual benefit, but so that the great weight that is crushing the world to atoms may be lifted from its shoulders".

Winston Churchill loathed Gandhi. Gandhi  loathed none.