The title of the article is a bit
bizarre for one would normally expect of the author to talk about Gandhi as
person, his qualities and exploits etc., or about his philosophy termed as
'Gandhism,' or about the Congress party. Since it is election time, we hear men
from the Congress talk of Gandhi as their leader (who they claim they follow) and
talk of the Congress party as Gandhiji's party. I am afraid, the content and
style of what they say is untrue and hypocritical. Gandhi being dead finds his
place in history, but not in politics. The present day politics has mitigated his
relevance. Gandhi being dead, Gandhi-ism is forsaken. There is hardly a
Gandhian by thought and deed.
'Gandhi' is a surname. It is not the family name of the descendants of Motilal and Jawaharlal Nehru. However, the son-in-law of Jawaharlal Nehru, Firoz, added 'Gandhi' to his name, though he had no connection with the Gandhi family. Thanks to politics that most people are misled into believing that Gandhis of the Nehru family have a close connection with Gandhi.
Then, there is the biggest lie. They project that they are members of the party that won us freedom under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhi had proposed to disband the party, turned indifferent, and was assassinated only a few months later after liberation of the country, and those in the party who were possessed of socialism or Hindu culture (not religion, mind it) left the party. The party hardly lived for two decades thereafter, dividing itself into Congress (Indira) and Congress (Organization). However, Congress (O) soon became defunct and finally extinct. Congress (I) continued to exist. The present Congress is certainly not the Indian National Congress, which had a pair of bullocks as its election symbol. The symbol of the Congress (I) is a palm with five fingers. It's a travesty and utter falsehood that Congress (I) is the original Congress. What right, then, the present Congress has to claim the original party's heritage and Gandhi as its leader and take credit for India's freedom? Those who call themselves the follower of Gandhi must be honest to accept the truth and not distort it.
Varindra Kumar Varma
'Gandhi' is a surname. It is not the family name of the descendants of Motilal and Jawaharlal Nehru. However, the son-in-law of Jawaharlal Nehru, Firoz, added 'Gandhi' to his name, though he had no connection with the Gandhi family. Thanks to politics that most people are misled into believing that Gandhis of the Nehru family have a close connection with Gandhi.
Then, there is the biggest lie. They project that they are members of the party that won us freedom under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhi had proposed to disband the party, turned indifferent, and was assassinated only a few months later after liberation of the country, and those in the party who were possessed of socialism or Hindu culture (not religion, mind it) left the party. The party hardly lived for two decades thereafter, dividing itself into Congress (Indira) and Congress (Organization). However, Congress (O) soon became defunct and finally extinct. Congress (I) continued to exist. The present Congress is certainly not the Indian National Congress, which had a pair of bullocks as its election symbol. The symbol of the Congress (I) is a palm with five fingers. It's a travesty and utter falsehood that Congress (I) is the original Congress. What right, then, the present Congress has to claim the original party's heritage and Gandhi as its leader and take credit for India's freedom? Those who call themselves the follower of Gandhi must be honest to accept the truth and not distort it.
Varindra Kumar Varma
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