Gandhi and Anarchy: Another Look at Gandhi Without The Rose Colored Glasses of GroupThink

by Chettur Sankaran Nair

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.

This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.

As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Genres: Politics

Kindle Edition

First published July 1, 1922

About the author

Sir Chettur Sankaran Nair, CIE (11 July 1857 – 24 April 1934) was the President of the Indian National Congress in 1897 held at Amravati.

Source: Wikipedia

Reviews

[Lasic · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chettur Sankaran Nair noted both with alarm and anger how Gandhi systematically began to hoodwink the Congress and the gullible Indian masses with his loin-cloth trickery. The outcome was the classic book, "Gandhi and Anarchy."

[Anil Swarup · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is a critique of the the Non-Cooperation Movement launched by Mahatma Gandhi after the the Great War when the British reneged on their promise of Home Rule to India. The author labors hard to discredit the movement as well as Gandhi without even attempting to understand the philosophy of the Mahatma behind the non-violent Civil Disobedience movement and this gets reflected in "How on earth is it possible to imagine that all activities would be non-violent when those who are carrying them proclaim themselves against constitutional authority and are bent upon destroying it; when they say that they must commit civil disobedience of a character that would compel the officials to shoot them!". Here in lies the problem. This is what the British and their lackeys failed to understand.

[Harikrishna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Explains Gandhi's civil disobedience and his way of handling the swaraj and khilafat movement and which lead to the 1920s during the period of Independence and how it led to the riots in different parts of the country in India.

[Justin Rose · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty dry read, but convincing.

[Piyush Sakorikar · Rating 3 out of 5]

An Eye opener

Rest you can judge by the name only

[Jay Mehta · Rating 4 out of 5]

A piercing critique from a former Congress insider, Gandhi and Anarchy dissects the contradictions in Gandhi’s ideology and the chaotic consequences of the Non-Cooperation Movement. Nair unpacks Gandhi’s disdain for modern institutions—railways, doctors, lawyers, English education, and parliamentary democracy—highlighting how his vision of Swarajya bordered on spiritual escapism and anti-modern regression. Particularly searing is the exposé of Gandhi’s political compromise on the Khilafat Movement, which, Nair argues, sacrificed Hindu interests at the altar of Muslim appeasement.

The appendices are a treasure trove—juxtaposing first-hand accounts of the horrific Moplah massacres with British hypocrisy in lamenting civil unrest. MacPherson’s legislative speech and Hazrat Mohani’s Muslim League address offer scathing insights into the growing communal fractures Gandhi chose to overlook.

Despite its invaluable content, the Kindle edition suffers from sloppy formatting and careless repetition. The substance, however, remains a sobering counter-narrative to the Gandhian mythos that shaped India's political discourse.