30 January, 1948 - The crusader of independence through non-violence, Gandhi the Mahatma was killed by a man of his own religion.
Perhaps this is the greatest irony that India has experienced till date. I wonder if the assassination completed Gandhiji's life and added him in line with great leaders and statesmen of all times. Perhaps an ordinary death would have made his death a little unnoticeable!
It sometimes pains me to see news paper articles raking controversies on Bapu's life. I read somewhere in a loony article that 'Hey ram' weren't Gandhi's last words and Nehru made it up. It was true that Gandhiji said on an earlier occasion that if 'Hey Ram' weren't the last words that his lips uttered then nobody call him a Mahatma. The truth is, his last words do not negate or nullify the sacrifices he made for our country.
One newspaper chose October 2nd to publish a "special relationship" he shared with a foreign woman in Sabarmati. There were letters which "might" have been exchanged between them. All this about a man who wrote "My experiments with TRUTH".
What is our problem? Firstly, we elevate our leaders into idols and treat them as super human. We can't accept their normal human behaviour even if we personally are horrible people. Then we throw them from the pedestal that we ourselves built for them. This is the reason most of the children today see Gandhi in shades of grey because they hear their parents charging him with Partition. Einstein said about Mahatma "Generations to come will scarce believe that such a one as this ever in flesh and blood walked upon this earth". Now I know what he exactly meant...
Next time you see someone doing his share of Gandhi-bashing, lets ask a few questions -
Would we wear simple clothes just because not all Indians can afford proper clothing?
Would we shave our heads in mourning of the deaths of our fellow Indians?
Would we free a country and still refrain from becoming the president, prime minister of the country?
Would we call for dissolution of your party post independence to give a fair chance to public servants of other ideologies?
Perhaps this is the greatest irony that India has experienced till date. I wonder if the assassination completed Gandhiji's life and added him in line with great leaders and statesmen of all times. Perhaps an ordinary death would have made his death a little unnoticeable!
It sometimes pains me to see news paper articles raking controversies on Bapu's life. I read somewhere in a loony article that 'Hey ram' weren't Gandhi's last words and Nehru made it up. It was true that Gandhiji said on an earlier occasion that if 'Hey Ram' weren't the last words that his lips uttered then nobody call him a Mahatma. The truth is, his last words do not negate or nullify the sacrifices he made for our country.
One newspaper chose October 2nd to publish a "special relationship" he shared with a foreign woman in Sabarmati. There were letters which "might" have been exchanged between them. All this about a man who wrote "My experiments with TRUTH".
What is our problem? Firstly, we elevate our leaders into idols and treat them as super human. We can't accept their normal human behaviour even if we personally are horrible people. Then we throw them from the pedestal that we ourselves built for them. This is the reason most of the children today see Gandhi in shades of grey because they hear their parents charging him with Partition. Einstein said about Mahatma "Generations to come will scarce believe that such a one as this ever in flesh and blood walked upon this earth". Now I know what he exactly meant...
Next time you see someone doing his share of Gandhi-bashing, lets ask a few questions -
Would we wear simple clothes just because not all Indians can afford proper clothing?
Would we shave our heads in mourning of the deaths of our fellow Indians?
Would we free a country and still refrain from becoming the president, prime minister of the country?
Would we call for dissolution of your party post independence to give a fair chance to public servants of other ideologies?
1 comment:
This article would be regarded as ur "taking his side". Its so easy to say things. Common man is never self-sufficient. He needs an idol to shape his life, an uncommon one. He waits for a god, a perfection. Why is it surprising? When Indian Gods like Sri Raama who loved his wife more than anything is accused of torturing her, when krishna who is a jagathguru is accused of having been a womenizer, out of sheer ignorance and the ego that springs out of it? They are more than mere mortals. Gandhiji is but a human. Well, afterall poor us...we are but incapable of differentiating between an ideology and an idealist!
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