In my first post, I wrote about the deep impact of Kashi on young Gandhi—how the sacred city shaped his inner self and what inspired him to come here.
In the second post, I described Gandhi’s bitter experiences in Kashi—the insults, the abuse, and even the threat of hell that he had to endure.
This final post looks at something even more serious: Gandhi’s silence in Kashi.
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Silence in front of Aurangzeb’s legacy became silence in front of Jinnah’s demand.
Silence in front of Aurangzeb’s legacy became silence in front of Jinnah’s demand. The truth Gandhi ignored in Kashi was no small matter—it carried fatal consequences. His habit of closing his eyes to uncomfortable truths did not end there; it grew into history’s deadliest blunder, leading to the deaths of lakhs and the displacement of nearly ten crore during Partition.
Portrait of Mohan Das Karamchand Gandhi, 1902.
Vishweshwara (Vishwanath) Temple, Kashi (Varanasi)
Vishweshwara, or Vishwanath, means “Lord of the Whole Universe.”
This lithograph, created in 1834 by Anglo-Indian scholar and mint assayer James Prinsep (courtesy of the British Library, London)
Gandhi in Kashi: Fearless Against Hindus, Silent Against Islamic Imperialism
Gandhi came to Kashi in 1902 and boldly attacked temple corruption and priestly fraud. But when faced with the scars of Aurangzeb’s destruction, he chose silence. His pen moved against Hindus but froze against Islamic tyranny.
THE WELL OF WISDOM- JNANA VAPI OR GYAN WAPI
There are two ways to reach the Vishwanath Temple:
- Through Vishwanath Gali, where behind the sanctum lies the sacred Gyan Vapi well.
- Through the Gyan Vapi side, where the moment you enter, a massive mosque towers before your eyes.
This is the Gyanvapi Mosque—built by Aurangzeb after demolishing the holiest shrine of Hindus. Even in Prinsep’s drawing, it looms just behind the pavilion of the sacred well. Gandhi stayed here. He saw this.
For any Hindu, this sight is a wound that cuts the soul. But Gandhi’s pen, so fearless against Hindu weaknesses, went silent here.
And that silence was no accident.
It was the silence of appeasement.
It was the silence that ignored the blood and ruins of Hindu civilization.
By refusing to write even a single line on Aurangzeb’s fanaticism, Gandhi stood naked before history. Bold against Hindus, blind before Islamic tyranny.
The Gyan Vapi Mosque: A Living Scar of Islamic Imperialism
Aurangzeb demolished the Vishwanath Temple and built the Gyan Vapi Mosque from its ruins. The broken temple walls were left standing, the peak replaced with an Islamic dome—a daily reminder of Hindu defeat and Islamic pride.
What Gandhi Saw — and What He Ignored
Gandhi saw the chaos in temples and wrote about it. But he also saw the Gyan Vapi Mosque towering over the Vishwanath Temple. What he ignored was far greater than what he recorded, and his silence spoke louder than his words.
Criticism for Hindus, Silence for Islamic Crimes
For Hindu society, Gandhi had no mercy—he exposed every flaw. But when it came to Aurangzeb’s fanaticism and centuries of Islamic crimes, he offered not a single word. This was not neutrality; it was appeasement.
1902: Vivekananda’s Last Visit, Gandhi’s First
In the same year, Swami Vivekananda, the fiery monk who awakened Hindu self-respect, came to Kashi for the last time before his death. That very year, Gandhi came for the first time. One era of pride ended, and another era of appeasement began.
The Beginning of Appeasement Politics
Gandhi’s silence in Kashi planted the seeds of a new politics—where Hindu self-respect would be crushed and Islamic crimes covered up.
1902 was not just a visit; it was the beginning of a dangerous trend that shaped India’s future.
The Silence That Divided India
Gandhi could roar against the weaknesses of Hindus, but he chose silence in front of Islamic imperialism.
Silence in Kashi was not just a momentary lapse—it became a lifelong habit. That habit turned into history’s greatest tragedy.
The Partition of India was not born in 1947—it was born in moments like these, when truth was seen, but deliberately ignored. Gandhi’s silence in Kashi cost the nation millions of lives and displaced crores.
Sometimes, what a man refuses to see becomes far more dangerous than what he sees. Gandhi’s silence was not just silence—it was complicity. Still bleeds from it.
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi first visited Varanasi in 1902, an event he detailed in his autobiography. He had two primary reasons for his visit:
- To visit the Vishwanath Temple, one of the most sacred Hindu temples.
- To meet Annie Besant, the great scholar and patriot who was ill at the time.
1896 AD image showing a large crowd at the Vishwanath Temple.
Gandhi’s experience at the Vishwanath Temple was one of the most bitter experiences of his life. According to him, the temple and its surroundings were in a state of disarray.
The environment was dirty, the streets leading to the temple were slippery, flies were buzzing everywhere, and there was a huge crowd of travelers causing a noisy atmosphere.
Inside the temple, Gandhi found the environment even more depressing. He desired a peaceful place to meditate and worship but was instead faced with chaos and the short-tempered behavior of the temple priests.
Gandhi’s observations were accurate, as the temple remained in poor condition until recent years when the government expanded it under the Vishwanath Temple Corridor project.
However, Gandhi remained mysteriously silent on the historical reasons behind this neglect. He did not mention that the Gyanvapi Mosque was constructed by Aurangzeb after demolishing the original Vishwanath Temple.
A mosque was built after demolishing a sacred Hindu temple, and the rubble from the temple was used in its construction. Even today, the remains of the original temple can be clearly seen.
Even today, the remains of the old temple can be clearly seen. It is surprising that Gandhi, who visited the site, did not acknowledge the destruction caused by Islamic rulers or express any empathy for the suffering of Hindus.
This omission is one of many instances that raise doubts about Gandhian philosophy. Critics argue that Gandhi’s ideology often sought to cover up crimes committed under Islamic rule while opposing British imperialism. This selective opposition has led many to believe that Gandhi perceived two types of imperialism:
- Good Imperialism
- Bad Imperialism
Gandhi and his followers seemingly decided which imperialism was acceptable and which was not, expecting the entire Hindu society to follow suit. Any Hindu who opposed this view was considered violent. Many revolutionaries who sacrificed their lives for India’s freedom were against Gandhi’s submission to Islamic fundamentalism.
The Vishwanath Temple was demolished by the Mughal ruler Aurangzeb, and a new temple was later built by Rani Ahilyabai Holkar in a much smaller space nearby. This limited space for construction led to the dispair and crowding that Gandhi observed.
Critics argue that Gandhi had a habit of blaming Hindus for Islamic crimes instead of addressing the root cause. The Gandhian era, often seen as the peak of Muslim appeasement, laid the foundation for the next 45 years of India’s history, heavily influenced by Gandhi’s philosophy.
In retrospect, it is worth considering whether Gandhi’s policies inadvertently contributed to the tragic events that followed India’s independence. Could a more assertive stance against religious imperialism have altered the course of history? Was his vision of a united India ultimately compromised by his own ideals?
These questions continue to resonate in contemporary discussions about Gandhi’s legacy and the broader implications of his philosophy for modern India.
An excellent article on Gandhi and his appeasement to Islamic imperialism.
Over in contemporary Europe, Pope Francis is acting like a Catholic Gandhi in appeasing Islamic imperialism.
He wants Europe to accept millions of Muslim immigrants.
When he signed the Abu Dhabi Declaration in 2019, he was basically bending over backwards to kiss the backsides of Muslim imams.