Gandhians shocked at government move to take over Sabarmati Ashram
Gandhians were stunned
to learn last week that the Government was planning to take over the Sabarmati
Ashram. The plan is to take over all Trusts, institutions, land and property,
painstakingly built over the last 70 years, with or without government grants. The Sabarmati Ashram
was served a notice informing the trustees and the 200 and odd inmates that the
Government was preparing to give them ‘handsome compensation’ and apartments
for ceding control of the institutions and the land. The Government, the notice
assured, planned to transform the Ashram into a fitting ‘world class’ memorial
to the Mahatma. Alleging that the
Government is eying what is now prime property, Gandhians point out that the
ashram was set up on barren land and was home to Gandhi between 1917 and 1930.
Not all Gandhian institutions have been receiving grants from the Government
either. And while Gandhians have kept the legacy of the Mahatma alive in the
face of severe odds, they seem to have outlived their utility in the eyes of
the Government.
Here are details regarding the Parivars
attempt to censor Gandhi's collected works under the the first NDA
government (1998): Brazen
attempt to 'revise' Gandhi's Collected Works. Hundreds of deletions and
changes were noticed by scholars in India and around the world,
who viewed them as an insult to scholarship, and demanded an end to attempts to
play with historical documents. Read the history of the
controversy.
Tridip Suhrud, then director of Sabarmati Ashram, wrote a detailed analysis of this
shameless behaviour in November 2004. It was only after the defeat of
the NDA that the fraudulently 'revised' edition was withdrawn, in
2005.
Aghast, Gandhians
wonder what would happen to Gandhian ideals of simplicity and austerity. Tushar
Gandhi, the great grandson of the Mahatma tweeted “Stop the devious attempt by
the government to take over Sabarmati ashram”.
Their outrage is not difficult to explain. Narendra Modi, as chief minister of Gujarat, had got a convention centre named after the Mahatma built at a cost of 200 Crore. The glitzy ‘Mahatma Mandir’, as the art and convention centre is known, has now been handed over to a hospitality group, which runs a chain of luxury hotels, to operate. Now the same government, which failed to run the art-cum-convention centre, is planning to take over Gandhian Trusts and land to have another shot at a ‘world class’ centre. Media reports suggest that Gujarat Government signed a 20-year contract with the hospitality major, Leela Group, and handed over the prime property opposite the secretariat. It is hardly a coincidence that the Leela Group is also constructing a 300-room luxury hotel which would tower over the redeveloped Gandhinagar Railway Station next to Mahatma Mandir.
Their outrage is not difficult to explain. Narendra Modi, as chief minister of Gujarat, had got a convention centre named after the Mahatma built at a cost of 200 Crore. The glitzy ‘Mahatma Mandir’, as the art and convention centre is known, has now been handed over to a hospitality group, which runs a chain of luxury hotels, to operate. Now the same government, which failed to run the art-cum-convention centre, is planning to take over Gandhian Trusts and land to have another shot at a ‘world class’ centre. Media reports suggest that Gujarat Government signed a 20-year contract with the hospitality major, Leela Group, and handed over the prime property opposite the secretariat. It is hardly a coincidence that the Leela Group is also constructing a 300-room luxury hotel which would tower over the redeveloped Gandhinagar Railway Station next to Mahatma Mandir.
Sabarmati Ashram,
known as Gandhi Ashram as well as Harijan Ashram, was set up in 1917 on a
barren land between a jail and a crematorium. The Ashram’s website explains
that Gandhi believed a Satyagrahi had to go to either place. Sabarmati Ashram
Preservation and Memorial Trust has Elabehn Bhatt as the chairperson. Other
trustees are Shri Kartikeya V Sarabhai, Dr. Sudarshan Iyengar, Nitin Shukla,
Ashoke Chatterjee and Amrut Modi as Secretary. Ashram institutions
include Harijan Ashram Trust, which runs Vinay Mandir for secondary and higher
education, hostel for Harijan girls and a Mahila Adhyapan Mandir for Primary
Teachers' Training. Gujarat Khadi Gramodyog Mandal looks after village
industries and produces and sells Khadi, handmade paper, soap, oil etc and also
makes Ambar Charkha, Looms and its accessories. Khadi Gramodyog Prayog
Samiti conducts research and training in spinning-weaving, solar energy, and
biogas, etc while Gujarat Harijan Sevak Sangh works for removal of
untouchability; it also runs the Environmental Sanitation Institute and
conducts research and training in rural health and sanitation.
see also
Gandhi's ashes stolen and photo defaced on 150th birthday
RIP Bhiku Daji Bhilare - the man who saved Gandhiji's life in 1944. By Subhash Gatade
RIP Bhiku Daji Bhilare - the man who saved Gandhiji's life in 1944. By Subhash Gatade
