World of Philosophy

Author(s): Christopher Key Chapple, Intaj Malek, Dilip Charan, Sunanda Shastri, Prashant Dave
Publisher: Shanti Prakashan

Page 136

Third, Gandhi established or strengthened inter-communal business associations. At the time of Gandhi's return from South Africa, Gujarat's textile industry was organized around traditional guilds (mahajans for merchants, panchs for artisans). All had a stake in the smooth functioning of the guilds because the division of labor among Muslims and Hindus in the textile industry. For example, in Surat, Muslims provided several services vital to the success of the industry, such as winding and embroidery. After the introduction of power looms in 1941, the vertical integration of the textile industry demanded inter-communal cooperation. Gandhi helped the guilds to become more democratic in their operation. Voluntarism rather than inheritance became the basis of leadership within guilds, making it easier for Muslims and Hindus to share power.
Forth, Gandhi organized inter-communal trade unions, neighborhood cooperatives, and professional associations. The Textile Labor Association (TLA) was founded in 1920. This union was in fact a federation of unions supporting textile craft-workers in Ahmedabad. The TLA was successful in connecting Muslims and Hindus because craft specializations within the industry were divided by community. The goal of the TLA was "total transformation," which for Gandhi meant not just the improvement of wages and working conditions, but also the betterment of worker literacy and housing, the uplifting of women, and the prohibition of alcohol. Professional organizations of physicians, lawyers, teachers, etc. are numerous, but not as strong as business associations have been in the state.
The period from the 1920s and 1940s, although a turbulent time in parts of India for inter-communal violence, was peaceful in Ahmedabad and Surat. Varshney believes that the tranquility of these two cities can be accounted for by the inter-communal civil society created by Gandhi, Patel, and their followers. During the partition, Ahmedabad had no rioting at all. Ahmedabad's time of relative peace came to an end after 1969, and Surat's in December 1992 with the destruction of the Baburi Mosque. Varshney argues that this violence can be explained by the gradual decline in the strength of inter-communal civil society, first in Ahmedabad and eventually in Surat. In Ahmedabad, there was the decline of Congress and the rise of the BJP. The social vision of the pre-independence leaders, to say nothing of their organizational abilities, lead not only to the weakening of Congress, but the decline of Gandhi's social organizations as well. As Congress was replaced by the BJP, so also Gandhi's social networks were replaced by organizations championed by Hindu nationalists. The political influence of Congress waned in Surat as well, but importantly, inter-communal business associations increased in strength, at least in the central city. In Varshney's view, the persistence of inter-communal civil society in Surat goes a long way to explain. why Surat, in contrast to Ahmedabad, was free of violence until the crisis of December, 1992. The decline of civil society is especially visible in the busi
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