Getting to Know India – Book Review 

Gandhi: Behind the Mask of Divinity  

Speech of Hon. Edolphus Towns of New York in the House of Representatives Tuesday, January 9, 2007

Madam Speaker, I have recently encountered a book entitled ‘Gandhi: Behind the Mask of Divinity’, which sheds new light on the founder of India. The author, Colonel G. B. Singh, USA, portrays Mohandas Gandhi as a person who was more interested in advancing his own group than in the advancement of all the people. Using Gandhi's own words, Colonel Singh portrays a very different Gandhi than you and I have been told about. Colonel Singh argues that the Gandhi we have been told about isn't the real Gandhi. He writes that he hopes that his book will stimulate discussion and provoke people to think about who Mohandas Gandhi really was. Since Gandhi is considered the father of the Indian nation, understanding his character is essential to understanding India.

Colonel Singh's book is definitely controversial, but it is an important contribution to a full understanding of this important historical character. Madam Speaker, there is an excerpt from the book's introduction on the back cover, which has been reproduced, and I would like to introduce  that two-paragraph excerpt into the Record at this time to give a  flavour of the book and encourage people to broaden their perspective  on Gandhi.

Introduction - ‘Gandhi: Behind the mask of Divinity’ by G.B. Singh

Over the years I have discussed Gandhi with many Americans, both formally and informally. ..... What continues to irk me is the amount of Gandhi “propaganda material'' that has flooded our libraries and bookstores. For an unsuspecting Westerner, the reading of Gandhi as he is portrayed on these shelves can bring about the intended result.  That is understandable. This book is an attempt to close the gap between the popularized Gandhi and the historical Gandhi. This book will incite readers to be more open-minded and to seek to validate the “truths'' presented. My hope is that it will provoke honest, healthy, and open dialogue and foster more scrutiny about him.....

Years of dedicated research on Gandhi convinced me that our hero was fundamentally a racist. In this book, I present the facts. The evidence presented here is not a matter of speculation or distorted interpretation. Much of the irrefutable evidence lay buried beneath a mountain of Gandhi's own writings - in his own words, which I have uncovered - comments that will be difficult to dispute once they are read. In this book you will read the evidence in its entirety. My primary intention is to untangle the web that Gandhi weaved - and his followers are still weaving -for many years. Only through a methodical probing can we expose Gandhi's campaign of deception: the lies, the propaganda, the misinformation, the half-truths, and the effort to hide behind religion. Where Gandhi left off, his followers have picked up, and they continue their own sophisticated campaigns, both in India and abroad. The book should not be looked upon as another Gandhi biography. Rather, it should provide a standard by which to weigh the Gandhi literature for accuracy and objectivity. Also, this book, though narrowly focused, should stand as a guide alerting us to how thoroughly the Gandhi propagandists and others have succeeded in deceiving.