The Dark Side of Gandhi
Rating: 3.1/5
Author: Hari Pada Roychaudhary
Publisher: Notion Press; 1st Edition
Publishing Date: 30 April 2019
Language: English
Genre: Biographies, Autobiographies, Indian History
ISBN-10: 1645467406
ISBN-13: 978-164567403
Pages: 230
Cost: 310 INR (Paperback)
Description:
The book is all about Gandhiji, a leader of Indians who were following him during the freedom fight. He chose the path of 'non-violence' and had different ways of showing disagreement and dissentient towards British India Company. The book describes learning a lesson for all the political leaders of the world to see and learn how a villainous person can make a country fool. A person being half-naked like a ‘Fakir’ (in the words of Winston Churchill) with his ethics of 'non-Violence' brought division, destruction, and the slaughter of millions. However, the United Nations Secretary commented 'the person as a man of peace of mankind'.
The book tells us the dark side of the truth of our history. The tale of fighting for India to become 'Independent' from British rule of 100 years. India was facing fights against British India Company and Congress party's decisions that ended to the partition of India based on religious beliefs.
In this book, the author intended to show the role of Gandhiji who was supporting Jawaharlal Nehru and Jinnah on their willingness and demands of becoming the first Prime Minister. All the powers of the Congress Party were in hand of Mahatma Gandhi. He definitely took the wrong decision for the benefit of a few powerful people that led India to destruction and killing millions of people.
Review:
The book attained both positive and negative reviews. Readers have appreciated the effort of the author to bring out the unknown facts of our most valuable history of Independence of India. However, we have learned only one side of the coin given in our history books 'the half-truth'.
Hari Pada tries to tell us his own story of his childhood about how he became homeless because of the partition, how Gandhiji became 'Father of Nation' or 'Bapu' even though the people of India have suffered tremendously during partition because of Gandhi-Nehru alliances and how Muslims have been given unlimited benefits in the constitution and other Indian laws. Simultaneously, the constitution and law were made to take away the rights of Hindus in the same manner. Article 370, 30 and 30A are a few examples of the discrimination based on religion. India is still suffering because of these provisions and laws. Gandhiji opened the chapter of the religious fight of Hindu-Muslim and Kashmir that is still on even after 73 years.
Every nationalist should read this book to know the whole truth. The book has many speculative and unproven statements. It is a little hard to accept the given facts without proof. Though people, who don't follow the ideology of Gandhi, will accept it with even closed eyes. Yet, the new generation will have many questions after reading this book.
Regardless of the facts, the book has many flaws in the writing and those are not negligible. There are many repetitive sentences with lots of mistakes/misprints in each line. The drive to the conclusion on the life of Mahatma Gandhi is very fast and without proper reasoning, yet it is readable for once at least!
About the Author:
Mr. Hari Pada Roychoudhury of Karimganj, a native of Sylhet of undivided India (now in Bangladesh), earned a Master of Science degree and LLB from GU in India and Ph.D. from UMIST in the United Kingdom. He left the job in the UK and returned to India for the service of his countrymen. He served Cotton College as a professor of Chemistry until retirement.
According to the author, Gandhi had made him a street boy by the partition of Bengal. He himself was a victim of the partition of India.
Hari Pada Roychoudhury is an author of another book 'Selfish Leaders Vs. Bengal and Bengalis', which was published on November 19, 2019.
