Ok, there is a lot of fridge magnet Gandhi that gets tossed around every time a protest puts a toe out of line so I just want to take a minute on that.

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First, remember that Gandhi’s collected writings span a time period of close to 50 years. And he wrote about everything- I mean everything. Which is why context matters.

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Second, non- violence did not mean doing nothing or following state “instructions” on how to protest. They stormed salt works and shut them down, they picketed shops selling foreign cloth, they pushed back police barricades to do all this.

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They were unarmed and tried not to harm human beings, that’s all. They were repeatedly injured in skirmishes with the police- some died, some went to jail.

Do you think the British government granted “permission” and a “route” for the Dandi salt march FGS?

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Millions of Indians repeatedly, publicly broke the salt laws after Dandi- in marketplaces, in factories. 60,000 of them were jailed. And this is just one example.

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Third, when we did control our own governments (post the provincial elections), Gandhi was harshly critical of violence by the state as well. Both Congress (in Bihar) and League members (in Noakhali) participated in pre partition riot violence. Gandhi is extra harsh on them.

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Fourth, self defence. In 1947, facing the growing pre partition riots, Gandhi did oppose the distribution of arms for self defence. But short of guns, he always maintained that self defence was in no way antithetical to his philosophy.

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So please stop with the sanitised Gandhi quotes - he was the ultimate rabble rouser and he certainly didn’t follow government norms. He didn’t bear arms or use them. That’s all.

The farmer unions have been far more patient, and rule abiding, than Gandhi ever was.