From the perspective of feminists and Dalit-Bahujans, who constitute the majority of the Indian population, Gandhi is the last person to be looked at as an inspiration.


Gandhi, who himself belonged to the ‘Baniya’ caste, had always been a staunch supporter of the caste system. He openly opposed the destruction of the caste system as he believed that the social hierarchical system plays a crucial role in maintaining societal order, hence completely disregarding the systematic oppression faced by the Dalit-Bahujans due to the system. 


Believing that the country could function within the fold of Hinduism and his secular Brahmanical ideologies, Gandhi is the reason why the Dalit Bahujans lack representation in almost every institution of India. Ambedkar’s idea of a separate electorate for Dalits could not be implemented because Gandhi protested against the Communal award by going on a hunger strike. The blackmailing made Ambedkar reluctantly sign the Poona Pact, denying the Dalit-Bahujan community the opportunity of gaining complete emancipation.


From a feminist’s lens, Gandhi is an out-and-out misogynist.
He argued that women inherently belong to households. As a test to prove is ‘celibacy’ and ‘purity’, he made his female disciples (including his nieces) sleep naked next to him. Being someone obsessed with the concept of ‘purity and pollution’, Gandhi personally chopped off the hair of women who were sexually harassed by the male predators so that the ‘eyes of the sinners get sterilized’. He believed that ‘western-style dresses are sexually provocative’ and ‘menstruation is a manifestation of the distortion of a woman's soul by her sexuality’.

He justified the killing of daughters who were sexually assaulted as it saves the family’s honor and labeled Indian women using contraceptives as ‘whores’. Hence, victim-blaming, objectifying, sexually repressing, and enforcing his orthodox views on women caused a great load of suffering to women which nullifies all his glories.

Gandhi needs to be re-read from a non-Brahmanical lens today. Only the privileged leisure classes are the propagators of Ganghism today. This ideology needs a serious revision, especially when we have had social reformers such as Jyotiba Phule, BR Ambedkar, EV Periyar, etc in the past!