From: [email protected]
To:
http://www.navhindtimes.in/keeping-the-spirit-of-gandhi-alive/
BY PRABHAKAR TIMBLEJanuary 30, 1948. Gandhiji left his room in Birla House for
the prayer meeting. 5.12 pm. A young man offered “pranam.” Three shots were
fired from point-blank range piercing the frail body. India lost the Father of
the Nation to the bullets of a Hindu fanatic.The men in ‘khaki ganvesh’
continue even today to glorify the killing. They are coached to spit venom
alleging the Pro-Pakistan stance of the Mahatma. They make the Mahatma a
spectacle of public ridicule by describing the world apostle of peace as the
Father of Pakistan. He is accused of sheltering the Muslims and for being
responsible for India’s partition. For the fundamentalist and fanatic Hindu,
providing shelter to Indian Muslim is a crime against nation, little short of
treason and the butchery through sponsored communal riots is atonement of sins
committed by Gandhi. The fundamentalists and votaries of Hindu Rashtra
gleefully paint Gandhiji as anti-Hindu. The killer is adored as the saviour of
‘Bharatmata.’ Two days before the insane assassination, Gandhiji had said, “If
I’m to die by the bullet of a mad man, I must do so smiling. God must be in my
heart and on my lips. And if anything happens, you are not to shed a single
tear.” Rightly so, he collapsed without an iota of hatred or anger on his face
and with ‘Hey Ram’ on his lips.Refuses to dieGandhi’s relevance for a just and
peaceful world multiplies in geometric proportion as religious fundamentalism
and madness in the name of Prophet, Christ and the thirty-three crore Gods of
Hindu religion progresses at arithmetic rate. Barack Obama unequivocally
echoed, “If Gandhi was not born; I would not have been President of United
States of America.” This shows the power of Gandhian thought and the sway it
holds in this land of democracy and opportunity. Kailash Satyarthi, on getting
the news of the Nobel Prize for Peace, visited Rajghat to pay tributes to
Mahatma Gandhi signalling his school of inspiration. Nelson Mandela
acknowledges that Gandhi’s writings kept him alive in prison. Malala Yousafzai,
the Pakistani activist of female education and the youngest ever Nobel Prize
laureate draws strength from Gandhiji not to hate the Talib who shot her. It is
clear that Gandhiji’s life and teachings are requisitioned to father political
leaders, social activists and mass movements for human causes all over the
world. Gandhi is formally taught in over 300 universities and there are over a
lakh of published titles on his life, teachings and work. Without hesitation,
Gandhi can be portrayed as the ‘Jesus’ of peace, ‘Koran’ of ahimsa, ‘Gita’ of
truth and the magician of ‘satyagraha.’Of late, we are watching the festival of
intolerance and communalism with the new government of ‘hope and aspirations’
playing the game of participant on some occasions and a mute spectator on most
junctures. Much to the chagrin and annoyance of the fanatic forces, the Mahatma
refuses to die and hence the multi-pronged attack to kill. The latest strategy
at home is to take ownership of the Mahatma and consign him to garbage and
cleanliness. It is also a grave inconsistency that the President of USA takes
credit for being a product of Gandhian philosophy and gives the topmost
priority to arms, warfare and nuclear power during his Republic Day visit to
India, as if there are no other areas of cooperation for human development.
Even otherwise, little can be expected from a country like USA which boasts as
the world policeman of human rights and democracy and claiming legitimate
rights to invade any part ofthe world.Nation in dangerIndia would stay unsafe
as a nation in our attempts to kill whatever Gandhi stood for and sacrificed
his life. The demand for deification of Nathuram Godse by establishing houses
of worship cannot come unless the Hindutva brigade is engaged in preparing the
soil at the grass-roots. Performance sessions based on the story revealed by
the killer himself receive standing ovations from the crowd hungry for the
blood of other communities. Though, there should be no restriction on freedom
of expression, the concern is to the negative values held by the literate and
educated Hindus.As we enter the 68th Martyrs Day, the political leaders will
once again pay homage at the Gandhi Samadhi and simultaneously the Hindu
fanatics in politics and society will continue to damage the idea of India. The
communal elements in the Muslim clergy and politics will fall prey to the
propaganda and add fuel to communalism.As if some kind of premonition, Gandhi
had said, “If someone were to shoot me in the belief that he was getting rid of
a rascal, he would kill not the real Gandhi, but one that appeared to him a
rascal.” The current organised war of the Hindu fundamentalists and the
loyalists of ‘sangh parivar’ frontal organisations including the political
party outfit are to kill the real Gandhi. Nathuram Godse murdered Mohandas more
by impulse. The present killing is worst as it is planned, pre-meditated and
carried out with ‘missionary’ zeal. The Mahatma is no more to heal the wounds
in case of outbreak of violence. There is no one else in sight of even less
than equal stature to nurse the nation back to health.If nation has to survive,
Mahatma Gandhi cannot remain friendless. We may question his path, not the
intentions. We can show inadequate belief in his methods. But, if we kill the
Mahatma for the second time, the nation is at risk.
