Gandhi and the Environment: Concept of Enviro...

Gandhi and the Environment: Concept of Environment in Gandhian Philosophy

Author Name : Mandira Bora

ABSTRACT Mahatma Gandhi’s huge body of writings and speeches not only deal with truth, non-violence, vegetarianism, soul force, spirituality and self-realisation, but also express his deep concern for man’s exploitation of nature. His views on the environment are directly related to these views as well. The question, however, is whether he can be considered as an environmentalist in the modern sense of the term. Most of India’s environmental movements are influenced by Gandhi’s ideas of non-violence, vegetarianism and self-realisation along with his concern for the environment in terms not only of man-nature relationship, but also of interface between humans and non-human creatures in nature. Arne Naess, the leading proponent of deep ecology, is profoundly influenced by Gandhi in his theorisation of this ecological concept. This paper is an attempt to examine whether Gandhi’s writings and speeches address the environmental issues raised by modern environmentalists such as Arne Naess and if yes, to what extent. The study is based on secondary data and attempts are made to arrive at conclusions through the application of analytical method of research.