India Should Stop “Using” Mahatma Gandhi

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is visiting India.  Today he met with the President of India Pratibha Patil at the Rashtrapathi Bhawan.  The Indian Express had a photo of the President and the Prime Minister sitting next to each other with a statue of Mahatma Gandhi in the middle.  There is a garland around Mahatma Gandhi’s neck and some

flowers in front of his statue.  The title of the story was “India, Russia set to ink multi-crore defense pact”.  If the Mahatma was alive he would have ran as far away as possible from these proceedings.

A few months ago German pen maker Montblac launched a pen costing $23,000 to mark the anniversary of Gandhi’s 140^th birthday.  Gandhi’s grandson (Tushar Gandhi) endorsed the idea.  Tushar Gandhi’s foundation already received $145,000 from Montblac and will get an additional $200 to $1000 for every pen sold.  Montblanc’s Chief Executive Lutz Bethge said “I certainly have to say, I wouldn’t have thought that people would have reacted negatively”.

Have you seen a photo of Gandhi, Lutz? For most of his adult life Gandhi was walking around half-naked just like the millions of his fellow countrymen.  What gives anybody the impression that Gandhi would have endorsed a Western company profiting from his name by selling a $23,000 pen?

These Montblac issue however highlights the hypocrisy that exists in Indian society when it comes to protecting the name, image and message of Mahatma Gandhi.  We are very quick to prevent his name being used or tarnished as long as it done by others and not by us Indians or the Indian government.

Why would Mahatma Gandhi who is a messenger of peace and one of the world’s most well known pacifists want to sit in on a conversation between Prime Minister Putin and President Pratibha Patil about multi-crore arms deals?  Do we need Mahatma Gandhi to rubber stamp the fact that India (which is ground zero of poverty and malnutrition in the world) is about to spend billions of dollars purchasing outdated and worthless armaments from Russia?  I think that Gandhi would have preferred that India spend this money on its people who badly need it and at the same time find peace with those who are trying to harm us.

The organization that uses Gandhi the most is obviously the Congress Party.  The image of Gandhi appears everywhere.  During key meetings most of the leaders sit on the ground and where white clothes that are very similar looking to the clothes worn by Gandhi and members of the independence movement.  Of course Gandhi had nothing to do with the current version of the Congress Party and Gandhi himself was not a millionaire or a criminal or corrupt like many Indian politicians.

I am not one of those who believe that Gandhi was the perfect human being.  He had deep flaws just alike any other human being.  We should not worship him or treat him as god (as we do with some other great leaders of the past).  But he was the key force behind the Indian independence movement and his basic principles are relevant today as it was during his lifetime.  He has inspired other great leaders like Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela.  A critical look at his life, beliefs and policies is fair.  But we should stop using his name for our own selfish interests.

Related posts:

1. Barack Obama: Inspiration From Mahatma Gandhi?
2. Sonia Gandhi Destroying Indian Religion, Culture and Traditions
3. Rahul Gandhi – India’s Confucius
4. P.C. Alexander Should Stop Talking About Morality
5. Rahul Gandhi and His Two Hindustan Myth

Tags: independence, India, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Montblanc, Nelson Mandela, Pratibha Patil, President, Prime Minister, Putin

Category: Culture & Religion