Was Gandhi an Intellectual Stalwart?

What's it about?

Read "Far more than ‘honest’ or ‘secular’ leaders, we need intelligent and competent ones" by Ghazala Wahab in the Times of India dated Mar 25, 2014

It was followed a couple of days later by "5 Indians in the running for top world thinkers " by Kounteya Sinha Times of India dated ,Mar 28, 2014.

The two set me thinking about "intellectual stalwarts" and great thinkers

 Ms Ghazala Wahab refers to "India's big fortune of having intellectual stalwarts like Gandhi, Nehru, Patel, Azad ".Really ? Was she just being flippant ?(as appears to be the general style at times of India) I will primarily take a look at who deserve to be called  "Intellectual stalwarts" and secondarily at the thesis "if you have these qualities, you will in any case be on a plane higher than thieves and thugs."(referring to intelligence and creativity)

Does the noun phrase make sense?

The adjective intellectual has three meanings (Merriam webster)
1.of or relating to the ability to think in a logical way
2.: involving serious study and thought
3.of a person : smart and enjoying serious study and thought

Stalwart used as a noun (Head of the noun phrase) should mean "marked by outstanding strength and vigor of body, mind, or spirit "(Merriam webster). Other usages of stalwart such : a loyal supporter or an unwavering partisan would make the noun phrase an oxymoron.(e.g a loyal supporter is typically not an intellectual)  The only way it can make sense is a person having outstanding intellectual strength and ability as opposed to physical strength or courage. In one word the phrase "Intellectual Stalwart" probably should mean a great thinker or genius. The phrase is non standard(no entry in dictionary and googling does not help)

Who qualifies?

As the second article referred to points out some among the five can be considered 'intellectual stalwart' e.g. Prof Amartya sen. 
The noun phrase equals "a great thinker" or "an intellectual giant" or simply a genius.
The typical criteria used would include
-acceptance of the intellectual ouput by peers
-citation index
-The mark of a true genius is timelessness. She is not a fad. No one can ignore the contributions of ancient 'panini' or the philosophers like kant or hegel, economist adam smith not to talk of popular figure like Einstein.

When viewed in this light it is obvious that both Nehru and Gandhi cannot be referred to as "intellectual stalwarts".The intellectual output of both has been junked. Nobody takes them seriously other than use their names to further partisan ends

Other things

Being intelligent and competent is absolutely no guarantee of being honest ("be on a plane higher than thieves and thugs") as great lawyers(laiars as some would say) defend known rogues and criminals. There are many judges actually accused of corruption and other misdeeds.


Ms wahab's other theme that critical thinking is lacking in our educational system may be true but the arguments facts adduced to support the claim are hardly paradigms of critical thinking. Looks like she is  a poster boy/girl of our educational system.