How can we reconstruct the political career of Gandhiji ? Explain with the help of public voice and private scripts.

Or

Explain the sources from which we can reconstruct the political career of Mahatma Gandhi and the history of National Movement of India.

There are many different kinds of sources from which we can reconstruct the political career of Gandhiji and the history of the nationalist movement.

(a) Public voice and private scripts : One important source is the writings and speeches of Mahatma Gandhi and his contemporaries, including both his associates and his political adversaries.

(b) Framing a picture : Autobiographies similarly give us an account of the past that is often rich in human detail. But here again we have to be careful of the way we read and interpret autobiographies. We need to remember that they are retrospective accounts written very often from memory. They tell us what the author could recollect.

(c) Through police eyes : Another vital source is government records, for the colonial rulers kept close tabs on those they regarded as critical of the government. The letters and reports written by policemen and other officials were secret at the time but now can be accessed in archives.

(d) From newspapers : One more important source is contemporary newspapers, published in English as well as in the different Indian languages, which tracked Mahatma Gandhi’s movements and reported on his activities, and also represented what ordinary Indians thought of him.

Private Letters:

(i) Definitely official accounts are prepared by some commission or special officers or surveyors appointed by government with specific aims or objections to submit reports or to maintain records for a specific purpose and period. All Government descriptions or accounts are maintain secrecy. They kept as secret records. Generally these records cannot by published completely without the written permission of government.

(ii) Generally private letters are published with the permission of an individual. Similarly autography may be written and published side by side if an individual desires so. However, if an individual desires to maintain secrecy about his private letter or autobiography it is upto concern individual. The Contents or truthfulness of facts mention in private letters and autobiography totally depend on individual honesty, impartiality and his liking to write all descriptions with truth.