Efforts to erase Gandhi’s memory still on, says T. Padmanabhan

“The current dispensation is working to create a ‘Gandhi-free India’ just as it is looking to create a ‘Congress-free India’”

Efforts to erase the memory of Mahatma Gandhi are still on as are attempts to disown the Gandhian legacy, writer T. Padmanabhan said here on Monday.

He said that Independent India had continuously striven to disown Gandhi, and his vision and role in the history of the country had not been recognised. The current dispensation is working to create a ‘Gandhi-free India’ just as it is looking to create a ‘Congress-free India’.

“One of the examples of efforts to forget Gandhi is the fact that Gandhi stamps are now a scarce commodity in post offices,” he said.

The writer was speaking at Rajendra Maidan in the city during a programme organised as part of the week-long celebrations of Gandhiji assuming office as Congress president 100 years ago. The programme is being organised by the Sabarmati Study and Research Centre of the District Congress Committee (DCC).

Gandhi was born, lived, and died for India, Mr. Padmanabhan said, adding that the Father of the Nation suffered immensely both under the British and in Independent India as he witnessed, post-Independence, events he never wanted to witness.

Writer N.S. Madhavan recalled the visits of the Mahatma to Kerala, where he was part of efforts to rid the provinces of Travancore, Kochi, and Malabar of the worst kind of caste demarcations. He also recalled the Mahatma’s role in Vaikom Satyagraha.

“The question before us today,” said Mr. Madhavan, “is how Gandhiji would address today’s questions of caste differences and discriminations overwhelmingly visible on social media platforms.” He said that even today caste-based violence got support on social media platforms.

Gandhiji united the people of India. He did not discriminate between Hindus and Muslims but forged a united India before which the British empire trembled.

Former Vice-Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University P.K. Abdul Aziz, former Vice-Chancellor of Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit Kalady M.C. Dileepkumar, writer Selvi Xavier, and DCC president Mohammed Shiyas were among those present.

Published - October 14, 2024 11:48 pm IST