In a July 4, 1926, article for Young India titled “Colour Bar vs Swadeshi,” Mahatma Gandhi proposed radical changes to India’s defense policy, including disbanding the army and replacing it with a minimal police force. The Tribune, in its editorial that day, offered a mixed assessment of Gandhi’s ideas, praising his practical approach in some areas while criticizing his apparent disregard for external threats.
Gandhi’s Proposal: Disband the Army, Befriend Tribes
Gandhi wrote that if he were Emperor of India, he would “practically disband the whole of the army in India and retain only such police as may be necessary for the protection of the citizens against thieves and robbers.” He also stated, “I would not bribe the frontier tribes as they are being bribed today, but I would cultivate the friendliest relations with them and to that end send out reformers amongst them in order to find out the ways and means of providing useful occupations for them.”
The Tribune editorial noted that Gandhi’s approach to the frontier tribes was essentially the one with which most thoughtful Indians were in sympathy, and which some had repeatedly suggested. However, the newspaper argued that Gandhi’s complete ignorance of the need to protect the country from “international thieves and robbers” showed that he was “a visionary in certain respects, while he is so highly practical in others.”
Criticism of Gandhi’s Visionary Approach
The editorial described Gandhi’s article as “characteristic of the Mahatma both in its strength and its weakness.” It suggested that after reading Gandhi’s proposals, the average Indian would “probably heave a sigh of relief that, after all, things in this country are what they are.” The Tribune emphasized that in the present world conditions, external threats were “far more dangerous than the thieves and robbers within the country.”
The newspaper did not support the British government’s policy of bribing frontier tribes but found Gandhi’s alternative—sending reformers to provide useful occupations—to be insufficiently detailed. The editorial implied that while Gandhi’s intentions were noble, his plan lacked a realistic assessment of international security challenges.
Context and Impact
The article appeared during a period of intense debate over India’s future governance and defense. Gandhi’s nonviolent philosophy often led him to propose unconventional solutions, such as minimal military forces and reliance on moral persuasion. The Tribune’s response reflected a broader tension between idealistic visions and practical statecraft, a debate that continued through India’s independence movement.
Gandhi’s proposal to disband the army was never implemented, but his ideas about frontier policy influenced later discussions on tribal integration and development. The editorial serves as a historical record of how Gandhi’s contemporaries viewed his more radical suggestions.
