Pragmatic reform please?

For long I have accused the idealistic reformers like Gandhi and Savarkar(am still reading up on him, so I might change my view of him as a reformer, or stick by it) of being just that. Idealistic. No thought given to pragmatism.

When gandhi branded harijans as such, and espoused equal love of God for them, he didnt realize that in practical terms he was playing into divisive politics. Or maybe he did but couldnt help it. I squarely blame him for initiating this trend of caste politics, the manifestation of which we see in the BSP and a host of other parties.

When savarkar espoused his hindutva, he paid no attention to the easy misuse of the "hindu" word in his philosophy. The VHP sees a clear hindu majority everywhere and has shamelessly changed the context of "hindu" in Savarkar's hindutva to mean that of the hindu religion from the original context of hindu being a region concept, the people(of all faiths) living in hindustan. Somewhere along the way, the concept of Sanatan Dharma has been lost. It doesnt even figure in the BJP's terminology.

Then you find people singing paens in the name of such hindu reformers. bah! Anglicised reform or not, I hold reformers like Raja Ram Mohan Roy a tad more palatable, because their actions had a positive effect on society. Not being as great as Gandhi and Savarkar, was a blessing in disguise for the nation. When individuals espouse philosophy that is too good for the common man to follow, it makes demons out of humans. Same with Lenin.