By AFP
MUMBAI: India’s rising tide of Hindu nationalism is an affront to the legacy of Mahatma Gandhi, his great-grandson says, forward of the seventy fifth anniversary of the revered independence hero’s assassination.
Gandhi was shot lifeless at a multi-faith prayer assembly on January 30, 1948, by Nathuram Godse, a spiritual zealot angered by his sufferer’s conciliatory gestures to the nation’s minority Muslim neighborhood.
Godse was executed the next yr and stays broadly reviled, however creator and social activist Tushar Gandhi, one of many international peace image’s most distinguished descendants, says his views now have a worrying resonance in India.
“That whole philosophy has now captured India and Indian hearts, the ideology of hate, the ideology of polarisation, the ideology of divisions,” he informed AFP at his Mumbai dwelling.
“For them, it’s very natural that Godse would be their iconic patriot, their idol.”
Tushar, 63, attributes this tectonic shift to the rise of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Modi took workplace in 2014 and Tushar says his authorities is responsible for undermining the secular and multicultural traditions that his namesake sought to guard.
“His success has been built on hate, we must accept that,” Tushar added.
“There is no denying that in his heart, he also knows what he is doing is lighting a fire that will one day consume India itself.”
Today, Gandhi’s murderer is revered by many Hindu nationalists who’ve pushed for a re-evaluation of his choice to homicide a person synonymous with non-violence.
A temple devoted to Godse was constructed close to New Delhi in 2015, the yr after Modi’s election, and activists have campaigned to honour him by renaming an Indian metropolis after him.
Godse was a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a still-prominent Hindu far-right group whose members conduct paramilitary drills and prayer conferences.
The RSS has lengthy distanced itself from Godse’s actions however stays a potent pressure, founding Modi’s celebration many years in the past to battle for Hindu causes within the political realm.
Modi has frequently paid respect to Gandhi’s legacy however has avoided weighing in on the marketing campaign to rehabilitate his killer.
‘Gandhi Godse: Ek Yudh’ film evaluation: Revisionist historical past for youths
‘Keep combating’
Tushar stays a fierce protector of his world-famous ancestor’s legacy of “honesty, equality, unity and inclusiveness”.
He has written two books about Gandhi and his spouse Kasturba, frequently talks at public occasions concerning the significance of democracy and has filed authorized motions in India’s high courtroom as a part of efforts to defend the nation’s secular structure.
His Mumbai abode, a post-independence flat in a quiet neighbourhood compound, is dotted with portraits and small statues of his well-known relative together with a miniature spinning wheel — a reference to Gandhi’s credo of self-reliance.
Tushar is anxious however resigned to the prospect of Modi successful one other time period in subsequent yr’s elections, an end result broadly seen as an inevitability given the weak spot of his potential challengers.
“The poison is so deep, and they’re so successful, that I don’t see my ideology triumphing over in India for a long time now,” he says.
“But it fills me with determination to keep fighting.”
READ HERE
Meet the custodian of temple devoted to Nathuram Godse
Open ‘franchise’ of Rahul Gandhi’s ‘shop of love’: Priyanka throughout ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ in UP
MUMBAI: India’s rising tide of Hindu nationalism is an affront to the legacy of Mahatma Gandhi, his great-grandson says, forward of the seventy fifth anniversary of the revered independence hero’s assassination.
Gandhi was shot lifeless at a multi-faith prayer assembly on January 30, 1948, by Nathuram Godse, a spiritual zealot angered by his sufferer’s conciliatory gestures to the nation’s minority Muslim neighborhood.
Godse was executed the next yr and stays broadly reviled, however creator and social activist Tushar Gandhi, one of many international peace image’s most distinguished descendants, says his views now have a worrying resonance in India.
“That whole philosophy has now captured India and Indian hearts, the ideology of hate, the ideology of polarisation, the ideology of divisions,” he informed AFP at his Mumbai dwelling.
“For them, it’s very natural that Godse would be their iconic patriot, their idol.”
Tushar, 63, attributes this tectonic shift to the rise of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Modi took workplace in 2014 and Tushar says his authorities is responsible for undermining the secular and multicultural traditions that his namesake sought to guard.
“His success has been built on hate, we must accept that,” Tushar added.
“There is no denying that in his heart, he also knows what he is doing is lighting a fire that will one day consume India itself.”
Today, Gandhi’s murderer is revered by many Hindu nationalists who’ve pushed for a re-evaluation of his choice to homicide a person synonymous with non-violence.
A temple devoted to Godse was constructed close to New Delhi in 2015, the yr after Modi’s election, and activists have campaigned to honour him by renaming an Indian metropolis after him.
Godse was a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a still-prominent Hindu far-right group whose members conduct paramilitary drills and prayer conferences.
The RSS has lengthy distanced itself from Godse’s actions however stays a potent pressure, founding Modi’s celebration many years in the past to battle for Hindu causes within the political realm.
Modi has frequently paid respect to Gandhi’s legacy however has avoided weighing in on the marketing campaign to rehabilitate his killer.
‘Gandhi Godse: Ek Yudh’ film evaluation: Revisionist historical past for youths
‘Keep combating’
Tushar stays a fierce protector of his world-famous ancestor’s legacy of “honesty, equality, unity and inclusiveness”.
He has written two books about Gandhi and his spouse Kasturba, frequently talks at public occasions concerning the significance of democracy and has filed authorized motions in India’s high courtroom as a part of efforts to defend the nation’s secular structure.
His Mumbai abode, a post-independence flat in a quiet neighbourhood compound, is dotted with portraits and small statues of his well-known relative together with a miniature spinning wheel — a reference to Gandhi’s credo of self-reliance.
Tushar is anxious however resigned to the prospect of Modi successful one other time period in subsequent yr’s elections, an end result broadly seen as an inevitability given the weak spot of his potential challengers.
“The poison is so deep, and they’re so successful, that I don’t see my ideology triumphing over in India for a long time now,” he says.
“But it fills me with determination to keep fighting.”
READ HERE
Meet the custodian of temple devoted to Nathuram Godse
Open ‘franchise’ of Rahul Gandhi’s ‘shop of love’: Priyanka throughout ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ in UP
