Integrity is a cornerstone of leadership and influence. It has many aspects to it but the core meaning is about being whole, staying aligned between your actions and words. This comes easy when there is no challenge, and no chance of failure. This is truly tested when the odds are stacked against you, with followers questioning your moves and ready to abandon you. Your moral fibre is under strain and you have to ask those questions to yourself and get the answers. Any step back may be pragmatic but can make your integrity ambiguous.
This happened with Gandhi in Feb 1922. He had given the call for the non cooperation movement and it had spread to the entire country and fired up the enthusiasm of people.
On 2 Feb 1922 a group of protesters in Chauri Chaura were agitating against high meat prices. The police broke the protest and arrested a few leaders. On 5 Feb a group of 2000 odd protesters returned to the market and picketed a liquor shop. The police arrested one of their leaders and this enraged the protesters to march to the police station. There was a melee and the police fired and killed three of them. This was the last straw for the group and they torched the police station. In the ensuing chaos 22 policemen died.
Gandhi was stunned by this incident. He thought of this as a betrayal of the principle of non violence and he decided to call off the non cooperation movement.
This was met with serious questions from some of the tallest leaders and the party. C Rajagopalchari, Motilal Nehru and many others went public with their disagreement. This also halted the momentum of the movement. Gandhi himself was put in prison by the British.
But Gandhi was unmoved and refused to budge from his stand.
The consequences of the move are debatable in some circles but this ensured Gandhi would be seen as a man of principle and so integrity. His leadership acquired a different kind of halo.
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