Harish Khare: Gandhi Will Have to be Killed, One More Time // Khaled Ahmed: Why India must not reject Gandhi and imitate Pakistan

By Dilip -
If he was an eyesore in 1947, the Mahatma remains a bigger irritant 70 years later in “new India” About two weeks ago, the world’s most morally deformed politician anointed a new “father of the nation”. This was the grossest of insults to India – a real-estate-mogul-turned-president of the United States daring to rearrange our national icons. Yet our political establishment and its aggressively noisy cheerleaders, who wear their nationalistic sensitivities on both sleeves, quietly gulped down this disparagement of the Mahatma, the greatest moral voice of the 20th century.

And, horror of horrors, this grotesque man who momentarily occupies the White House was very much visible in the backdrop in Ahmedabad when the prime minister kicked off the 150th birth centenary of the actual ‘father of the nation’. It would appear that Donald Trump’s rhetorical besmirching was not all that unsynchronised, and this “father of the nation” business is seen, in some quarters, as a licence to explore the possibility of a different kind of canonisation. 

If there has to be a new “father of the nation” then the question arises: what are we to do with the old ‘Sabarmati sant’? A strong case will have to be made for banishing Bapu from our national pantheon, to make place for someone else to become our nation’s father. The original ‘father’ will need to be stripped of his high spiritual status. The Mahatma was the original eyesore for the old Hindu Mahasabha crowd. And the January 30, 1948 assassination has to be seen beyond Nathuram Godse, the man who fired those shots. 
As we begin a year-long celebration of Gandhi’s 150th birth anniversary, we need to remind ourselves why certain voices and forces were so desperate to physically liquidate this fragile old man. Why did this act of public execution have to be enacted?... read more:
https://thewire.in/politics/gandhi-will-have-to-be-killed-one-more-time

Audio Recording: The Compass We Lost: A talk by Dilip Simeon on Gandhi
The Compass (Deccan Chronicle, Oct 3, 2019)

Khaled Ahmed: Why India must not reject Gandhi and imitate Pakistan
Pakistan’s universities are not counted among the world’s top universities. In fact, even in Pakistan nobody in pursuit of knowledge sets much store by them. The reason is an ideology based on religion which doesn’t brook revision. One thought India would learn from this negative example but it has actually succumbed. Following religion, India can start looking like Pakistan. But what will happen to the Indians and Pakistanis deeply convinced by the “inclusive” faith of Mahatma Gandhi who believed in Hindus and Muslims living together as one nation?...  read more:
https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/unworthy-nations-india-pakistan-mahatma-gandhi-hindu-muslim-6064968/

Wardha varsity expels six students who protested against Govt, wrote letter to PM
The serial Emergency imposed by the Sangh Parivar government continues. This is an assault on our constitutional freedoms. The RSS never stops complaining about Indira Gandhi's aothoritarianism. Are the actions of their government any different? 


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