One more Gandhi?
First, they said there will never be another ‘Gandhi’. I mean the likes of
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. But now they admit another ‘Gandhi’ has just burst
onto India’s political scene. His name is Kisan Baburao Hazare, or just Anna
Hazare, the first two names being kept aside for the sake of convenience, just
as in the case of the original Gandhi.
Wonder if M. K. Gandhi ever hero-worshiped a Hazare of his times. I refer to
Vijay Hazare, the renowned Indian cricketer, admired for his batting skills,
especially in Test cricket. Quite unlikely, but if that be so, Gandhi might
have had a wish to be re-born as Hazare, which wish was, in fact made manifest
prematurely by this Hazare, just a year before the Mahatma was killed by a
fellow Hindu in 1948.
And the pundits now have good reasons to concede they were wrong:
First, both Gandhi and Hazare made their entries onto political centre-stages
via short prison terms in Johannesburg and Delhi, respectively.
Second, Anna outpaced policemen on his march out of ‘Tihar’ jail on to a
waiting bus,while the Mahatma did that to his followers on his march to
‘Dandi’.
Third, Anna, like the Mahatma, unleashed the force of a fast to unsettle a
government, only in this case his own.
Fourth, Anna, like the Mahatma, knows well that a civilised government will not
allow him to fast until he dies. That would mean allowing him to commit
suicide, and suicide, besides being cowardly is criminal, both on the part of
the one who commits it, and those that allow it.
However, the one contrasting feature between the two is that the Mahatma fought
his battles bare-chested, while Anna dares not bare his chest, lest corruption
get into it. Perhaps this is also the reason why he covers his head with a
‘Gandhi’ cap, while Gandhi himself never did.
(Excerpt from my book: SIMPLY MY WAY)
www.bennetpaes.com
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