PRAMOD PATHAK
Sometime back I received a Whats App message about a film ‘ Why I killed Gandhi’. The sender was recommending that the film must be seen. A biographical drama based on the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi,the movie is a 45 minute drama explaining the stand of Nathuram Godse as given during his trial in the court room. I certainly was not keen on watching the film.Gandhi killing cannot be justified no matter how convincing the arguments one puts forth.Rather,it is unfortunate that there are motivated attempts to undermine Gandhi’s contribution to the nation and the humanity at large. However,the question is not why someone took that extreme step to kill Gandhi. There is a bigger question involved.Can you really kill Gandhi? His ideas, his philosophy, his concerns, his advocacy for truth and non violence, and most importantly is purity and integrity.The very fact that some quarters realise the need to systematically run a campaign to justify Gandhi assassination, suggests that even the detractors know that the act was not right and are seeking to rationalize it. The fact is Gandhi still lives on. Not just in India. He is one of our most accepted global brands. It was not without reason that the United Nations declared Gandhi birthday as the world non violence day to be observed all over. Gandhi is a personality that transcends Gandhi the person.It is because of this that even after 75 years of his death Gandhi is discussed,debated and talked about on various fora. Management schools teach Gandhi for helping the students understand Ethical Leadership. Economists talk about Gandhian economics. And till not long ago aspiring civil servants had to read Gandhian thought. Even today,the Ethics paper in the Civil Services syllabus mentions Gandhi. As a course instructor in a leading institute teaching Business Ethics to MBA students I have found Gandhi fitting in the curriculum even without a mention of his name. The fact is that there cannot be a course on Ethics without Gandhi.
Not very long ago the Kerala government during its budget presentation put Gandhi’s picture on the cover page of their budget document. While the connotations of this act may be many, the simple conclusion is that Gandhi cannot die. Some may find fault with Gandhi’s ways, some may make uncharitable remarks against him but many more still continue to revere him. The truth is that Gandhi continues to be amidst us. Evaluating Gandhi is a difficult proposition. The things Gandhi stood for are difficult to capture in a piece or even a volume and naturally people find it difficult to understand him.One can only try to know him through his actions. Gandhi practiced what he preached.A Rare quality to find. Even during his lifetime Gandhi was an enigma. He is still so. You may agree or disagree with him but you cannot negate him. There are many facets to his personality and his personality is beyond measure. No wonder someone like Albert Einstein had to say that generations to come would find it difficult to believe that someone like Gandhi actually lived and moved on this earth. But he actually lived and the present generations must believe this and try to know Gandhi. There is a section of people that thinks that Gandhi’s ideas were impractical, rather utopian. Nothing can be further from truth. Gandhi lived his ideas and delivered results also. Lest we forget, at the turn of the century over two decades ago, editors of several globally reputed periodicals asked historians to rank the greatest leader of the millennium. Needless to say that most named Gandhi and rightly was he given the title of man of the millennium. A few things about Gandhi must be mentioned. Gandhi statues are there in more than 100 countries including Pakistan and Great Britain. Interestingly, his statue finds a place besides that of Winston Churchill at the Parliament Square in Britain. Mind you, the same Churchill who gave Gandhi the epithet of Naked Fakir. There are some 250 cities in 70 countries where many major roads are named after Gandhi. In all the 719 districts of our country, there are roads, schools, buildings, parks or museums in the name of Gandhi. Most cities have a Mahatma Gandhi Road. About 150 countries have issued 800 kinds of stamps on Gandhi. In the year 1969, the British Government issued a stamp on Gandhi to mark his centenary. That was the first time that someone from outside the Royal Family was given a place on stamps. More than 45 films and 500 documentaries have been made on Gandhi with one getting an Oscar. Around 90,000 books have been written on Gandhi. Was all this a fluke? Certainly not.These were spontaneous
actions to show respect to one of the greatest mass leaders in the Indian and global history till date.
The reality is you cannot kill Gandhi.
(The writer is a retired professor of IIT ISM Dhanbad and a political analyst)
