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In Memory of Dr. Max Eitingon
Politics without Religion is a mantrap, because it kills the soul—(Gandhi)
Because of the short time at my disposal, I can discuss only two features of the material contained in a more extensive study of the subject.
1The achievement of India's independence.
2The attainment of equal status for the Pariah Caste.
In his own country, Gandhi is revered as a saint, the rest of the world does not even comprehend him. How was it possible that a man without the powers of the state at his disposal, and without any coercive means, became the accepted ruler of one fifth of the world's population? How was it possible that Gandhi, who is rightly called 'The Father of India's Independence', achieved this independence by pacific means at a time when terror reigned in India and her people were full of hatred and revenge against Great Britain? Moreover, he obtained Caste equality without bloodshed. To throw light onto these problems and to understand their psycho-analytic meaning is the purpose of this paper.
Before he could realize the final task he had set himself, that is, the nationalization of property by these same peaceful means, he was murdered by the secretary of the extreme Nationalists, on 30th January, 1948.
Hatred of Great Britain was rampant in India during Gandhi's youth. Hundreds of years of oppression had completely altered India's character, and turned a peaceloving, friendly people into an aggressive nation, ready to wage war to achieve their liberation. Gandhi, as a boy of 15, was inspired by the desire to go to war against Great Britain. His people, he believed, were weak because they did not eat meat, and the English derived the strength which enabled them to master India from meat eating. In his childhood, he was afraid of the dark. He imagined ghosts coming from one side, thieves from another, and serpents from a third. Eating meat, he and a friend with whom he discussed it imagined, would cure all fear. They therefore decide