Saying “No” to Gandhi and Nehru

CASI Seminar
Vasanthi Srinivasan
Reader, Political Science, University of Hyderabad, and CASI-New India Foundation Visiting Scholar
CASI, 3600 Market Street, Suite 560
University of Philadelphia
Philadelphia, PA 19104

About the lecture
Hailed by Mohandas Gandhi as his conscience keeper, Chakravarthi Rajagopalachari (1878-1972) had the courage to say “no” to the Mahatma over the Quit India movement. Affectionately known as C.R. and Rajaji, he articulated how the Mahatma’s ideas and practices could be reconciled with the needs of a modern nation state in a manner strikingly different from that of Jawaharlal Nehru. Consequently, he found himself saying “no” many more times than he had done with the Mahatma. Drawing from her recently published work titled Gandhi’s Conscience Keeper, Dr. Srinivasan explores the rationale underlying his opposition to Gandhi, Nehru and Ambedkar. Probing his ideas regarding Pakistan, “slogan socialism,” Hindi as official language, and linguistic reorganization, she asks whether he was just a retired politician angling for attention or whether his experience reflects the genuine risks of statesmanship in a democratic context.

The Nand & Jeet Khemka Distinguished Lecture Series is an endowed public program of the Center for the Advanced Study of India (CASI). Launched in the 2007-08 academic year, and made possible through the generous support of the Nand & Jeet Khemka Foundation, the series brings renowned India specialists to the Penn community and serves as a critical forum for analyzing and understanding the complex economic, political, social, and cultural changes that the world’s largest democracy is experiencing, as well as the challenges that lie ahead.
The Saluja Global Fellows Program has been made possible by the generous gift from Vishal Saluja ENG’89 W’89. CASI was excited to launch the program during the 2022–23 academic year, coinciding with the Center’s 30th Anniversary. This new program enables CASI to invite eminent leaders and rising experts on contemporary India preferably from the fields of media, culture, law, and contemporary history to be in residence for one to two weeks at CASI.