Mahatma’s Legacy in Letter &Spirit

Editorials & Columns are written with regards to the one letter of Mahtma Gandhi, which is going to be auctioned at the Christie’s, London and the letter is expected to fetch some 12,000 to 15,000 pounds. It is reported that the letter was written by the Mahatma to highlight the importance of Hindu-Muslim unity, just 19 days prior to his assassination. It seems he had written that letter for publishing it in the newspaper “Harijan” and the original handwritten copy has come for auction. A few ‘Gandhians’ have expressed surprise & shock and written to Prime Minister Manmohan requesting him to get that letter to be kept under the safe custody of the government.

 We must understand that the Mahatma had come to the market the day when his picture was printed on our currency. His name “Gandhi” has been used for generations as a brand image by the Nehru family, which owns the Congress party, as a ‘suffix’ and marketed it well to suit their selfish interests. The man, who fought against conversions, talked against the missionaries, had become a ‘suffix’ for even a Roman name, ironically.   Later on, the filmmakers have been using his brand image every now and then and marketed his name for filling up their coffers. Last but not the least, his own grand sons have marketed their ‘books’ utilizing the brand image of his name to increase the bottom line figures.

With regards to the present hand written letter by him, which is going to be auctioned at the Christie’s, what is the big deal? It is not acceptable to spend the taxpayers’ money on that. Instead, the government must ask any one of the above beneficiaries (Nehru family or film makers or Gandhi’s grand sons or the Congress party) to bid in the auction successfully and get the concerned letter.

Even then, one wonders how that letter is going to be useful for the Hindu-Muslim unity that too at the present hostile atmosphere created by all the pseudo-secular political parties & media houses! Will the terrorist stop their activities after seeing the letter? Or will the UPA government have the guts to show the letter to the Islamic terrorists?

Talking of Mahatma Gandhi’s takes on Hindu-Muslim unity, we have enough proof in our History to show that he has always been biased towards the Muslims (perhaps with good intentions) and one can even say that he was the first Muslim appeaser. It is reported that, when twelve such letters on Hindu-Muslim unity came for auction previously, it was the NRI community, which managed to get those letters for our government. Can any one show some light on them to find out, if there was any one Muslim member as part of that NRI team? But, ultimately were those twelve letters useful to create a sort of peace & harmony among Hindus & Muslims?

The present UPA government is no where near the Gandhian Principles and it indulges only in ‘faking’ them, as evidenced by the Dhandi March to commemorate Salt Satyagraha; the ugly controversy on Vandematarm to mark the centenary of the National Song thereby showcasing the Hindu-Muslim unity; the damp squib show of Satyagraha Centenary in the Capital; the planting of Christian Cross on the Coins; the arrogance shown on destruction of Rama Sethu; all these ‘faking’ of a Man’s principles, who relentlessly fought against foreign rulers have happened under the leadership of a ‘foreigner’! What an irony!  

If a government has the audacity to say that it doesn’t have any records to show on the great freedom fighter Nethaji Subash Chandra Bose, then what is the guarantee that it would keep the Mahatma’s letters safely? Why should the government spend taxpayers’ money to buy that letter? Let the government collect the money from those, who destroyed the records on Nethaji.

If at all this Useless Pathetic Alliance (UPA) government is very serious in upholding Gandhian principles, the first thing it should do immediately is to withdraw the candidature of its presidential nominee Prathiba Patil. Only then comes the purchase of Mahatma’s letter. Will UPA do that?