Gandhi was a revolutionary leader, the father of modern India1 and (at least according to himself) an Orthodox Hindu.2 “Volumes are written about Gandhi’s commitment to nonviolence in defense of poor and oppressed human beings, but his equally strong commitment to nonviolence in defense of oppressed animals is passed over in silence.”3 4 5
Gandhi is quoted as saying “I have known many meat eaters to be far more non-violent than vegetarians”, 6 but he also believed that meat eaters missed a great opportunity for spiritual growth. He explained: “The freer he [a person] is, consciously and deliberately, from the necessity of living upon the destruction of other life, the nearer he is to Truth and God.”7
In fact, he claimed that nonviolence towards animals was a prerequisite for people to reach their potential.8 9 10 It is important to note that to Gandhi, nonviolence meant more than not bothering others. It meant cultivating concern, compassion, and love. 11 12
So, I think Gandhi would have been a fairitarian13 if there ever was one. But don’t take my word for it, here is Gandhi in his own words: “I hold today the opinion as I held then. To my mind the life of a lamb is no less precious than that of a human being. I should be unwilling to take the life of a lamb for the sake of the human body. I hold that, the more helpless a creature, the more entitled it is to protection by man from the cruelty of man.” 14 15
sources and footnotes:
[1] Nanda, B.R.. “Mahatma Gandhi”. Encyclopedia Britannica, 28 Sep. 2021, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Mahatma-Gandhi. Accessed 3 November 2021 [2] Mishra, Ravi K. “Gandhi and Hinduism.” Indian Journal of Public Administration, vol. 65, no. 1, Mar. 2019, pp. 71–90, doi:10.1177/0019556118820453. [3] Phelps, Norm. The Longest Struggle: Animal Advocacy from Pythagoras to Peta. Lantern Books, 2007. [4] “The vast literature devoted to Gandhi pays scant attention to duties towards animals despite the fact that this is a component of his concept of non-violence.”Source: Burgat, Florence. “Non-Violence towards Animals in the Thinking of Gandhi: The Problem of Animal Husbandry.” Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics, vol. 17, no. 3, 2004, pp. 223–248., https://doi.org/10.1023/b:jage.0000033082.58743.5b. [5] The “scholarship on Gandhi and non-violence largely overlooks the issue of animal welfare… Many sources that do address this aspect of Gandhi’s message focus mainly, if not exclusively, on Gandhi’s concessions that animals are lesser than humans and thus, if necessary, may be killed for human benefit. Even when scholars do discuss Gandhi’s concern for animals, they truncate it, suggesting its secondary importance”
Source: McLaughlin, Ryan P. “NON-VIOLENCE AND NONHUMANS: Foundations for Animal Welfare in the Thought of Mohandas Gandhi and Albert Schweitzer.” The Journal of Religious Ethics, vol. 40, no. 4, Wiley, 2012, pp. 678–704, http://www.jstor.org/stable/23353962. [6] Gandhi. Gandhi on Non-Violence. Edited by Thomas Merton, New Directions, 1965. [7] Mahatma Gandhi Collected Works Volume 39. https://www.gandhiashramsevagram.org/gandhi-literature/mahatma-gandhi-collected-works-volume-39.pdf. [8] “Gandhi has developed a fascinating argument that non-violence towards animals is actually essential for the internal development of humans… [and a] denial of maximum non-violence is a great hindrance in achieving self-purification.”
Source: Nibedita Priyadarshini Jena (2017) Gandhi’s perspective on non-violence and animals: ethical theory and moral practice, Journal of Global Ethics, 13:3, 398-416, DOI: 10.1080/17449626.2018.1425216 [9] Gandhi wrote: ‘‘Man must, therefore, if he is to realize his dignity and his own mission, cease to take part in the destruction and refuse to prey upon his weaker fellow creatures.’”
Source: Mahatma Gandhi Collected Works Volume 35. https://www.gandhiashramsevagram.org/gandhi-literature/mahatma-gandhi-collected-works-volume-35.pdf. [10] “For Gandhi, humanity’s greatness did not derive from the ability to utilize the ‘lower-creation’ in whatever way that yielded benefit. On the contrary, humanity’s greatness rested in the ability to rise above nature’s bloody competition and compassionately care for less powerful creatures”
Source: Thought of Mohandas Gandhi and Albert Schweitzer.” The Journal of Religious Ethics, vol. 40, no. 4, Wiley, 2012, pp. 678–704, http://www.jstor.org/stable/23353962. [11] “While retaining the literal meaning of non-violence i.e. non-killing, Gandhi attributes to it certain features that expand its scope and yet also determine its limitations. He suggests that non-violence does not merely imply non-hurting in thought and deed, but that it entails an extension of love and compassion… Thus, he believes non-violence should be practised in word, thought and deed.”
Source: Nibedita Priyadarshini Jena (2017) Gandhi’s perspective on non-violence and animals: ethical theory and moral practice, Journal of Global Ethics, 13:3, 398-416, DOI: 10.1080/17449626.2018.1425216 [12] ‘Compassion and ahimsaˆ are not two different things. […] We can describe compassion as the concrete expression of ahimsaˆ,’’ writes Gandhi. In a nutshell, compassion is the act of ahimsaˆ, its manifestation. This is why he frequently stresses the idea that non-violence is, in its active form, goodwill towards any living creature: love, in its pure form”
Source: Burgat, Florence. “Non-Violence towards Animals in the Thinking of Gandhi: The Problem of Animal Husbandry.” Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics, vol. 17, no. 3, 2004, pp. 223–248., https://doi.org/10.1023/b:jage.0000033082.58743.5b. [13] Which is someone who thinks that people and animals should be treated fairly, especially if they are feeding us. [14] Gandhi. An Antobiography or the Story of My Experiments with Truth. Translated from the Original in Gujarati by Mahadev Desai. Navajivan Pub. House, 1959. Accessible at https://www.mkgandhi.org/autobio/autobio.htm [15] Although he held animal life in high regard, it is important to note Gandhi held human life in still higher regard:
“I have no feeling to save the lives of animals which devour or cause hurt to man I consider it wrong to help in the increase of their progeny … I will never sacrifice a man’s life in order to save theirs… Unlike the animal, man has been given the faculty of reason” And “If I had the fearless power to tame these dangerous creatures by the force of my love and my will … then I should have the right to advise other people to follow my example. But I have not that power. I must, therefore, advise others to kill all creatures, dangerous to human life … ”
Source: Cited in Nibedita Priyadarshini Jena (2017) Gandhi’s perspective on non-violence and animals: ethical theory and moral practice, Journal of Global Ethics, 13:3, 398-416, DOI: 10.1080/17449626.2018.1425216