The moves to outright wipe out or hugely tamper with or severely downgrade - in the name of reconstruction/redevelopment/beautification/..., of earlier constructed iconic (heritage) structures is an integral part of the larger project of rewriting Indian past - including even the more recent and reconstruct social memory.
In turn, a part of the mother project, already underway, to put in place a "New India" - with the founding Emperor as its mascot, displacing the "Old India" that had come up at the largely successful - despite being somewhat marred by the dark patch epitomised by the blood-soaked gory Partition, culmination of more than half a century long epic freedom struggle - informed with the spirit of pluralism, democracy and egalitarianism that had come to get planted and then take root via the growing interface with the enlightened West, to put an end to the exploitative and oppressive British colonial rule. <<2021, the Sabarmati Ashram is facing a serious threat of being turned into a ‘world-class tourist attraction’. An amount of Rs 1,200 crore has been pledged by the government to accomplish this. The architect entrusted with the controversial Central Vista has been commissioned to modernize the ashram campus. Gandhi was and will remain ‘world class’ because of his utter simplicity. The same simplicity marked the ashram when he created it. The proposed VIP guest house and auditorium can, at best, make us forget Gandhi and his simplicity. *In all appearance, the Sabarmati Ashram makeover plans are aimed at inducing amnesia, not remembrance of Gandhi’s ideas and courage* [emphasis added]. Nothing else can be expected of a regime that is overly busy telling us through its information factories to forget all about our freedom struggle, the freedom of mind that Tagore celebrated and the freedom of spirit of Sri Aurobindo's vision.>> (Excerpted from: < https://www.telegraphindia.com/opinion/the-three-ashrams-of-free-thought-that-are-at-risk-in-new-india/cid/1826069 >.) -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/greenyouth/CACEsOZjJmXKQQnh5Gen%2ByVgdPgkjATDqULHEhrVnjb%2BpD8iwvA%40mail.gmail.com.
