Tushar Gandhi, author and great-grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, released aHindi book, Gandhi: Siyasat aur Sampardayekta(Gandhi, Politics and Communalism) written by senior journalist Piyush Babele, through video conferencing at the Constitution Club of India in the Capital on May 22.
The book, published by the Institute of Objective Studies (IOS), narrates the factual story of Gandhiji’s views on religion and his struggle with communalism based on what he lived, did and said. His struggle with communalism is all the more important because he defeated foreign imperialism while he was alive, but the communalism sitting within India ultimately took his life.
The book also highlights the irony of how the communal forces responsible for the Hindu-Muslim conflict and the Partition of India are trying to blame Gandhi for their sins. These forces are still dominant in the country and need to be countered.
The author, while introducing the contents of the book, said, “The focus of the book is on communalism and the misinformation and the propaganda being spread through social media platforms and WhatsApp;e.g., Gandhiji did Muslim appeasement and he was anti-Hindu. Thesedays many people are making allegation that Gandhi justified Moplah (Muslim) riots of 1921 and he did not oppose it. In the book I have also tried to explain the myth entrenched in the mindset of the people regarding the role of Gandhijiduring the Partition of India. This book also highlights the challenges India is facing today and the way forward.”
Tushar Gandhi, while lauding the effort of the author, said, “The book is very timely and important because politics and communalism is what we are facing today. Today India is not what Nehru, Gandhi, Patel and Maulana Azad had dreamt of. Today politics of hate is dominating us and that is why this book is very important as it reminds us of our heritage and history. The basic purpose of history is to learn lessons from the past and not to repeat the mistake if any. We are repeating the same mistake of hatred in the past and are caught in the web of hatred.”
On the way forward, Tushar Gandhisaid, “In Independent India, we used to blame the Britishers for everything and try to justify our wrongdoing under the guise of partition. The pace of development of our country after 75 years of Independence is much slower than the countries devastated during world wars and today they are developed nations. If we keep on repeating the wrongs of the past 75 years and thrive on politics of hatred then we will never become a responsible nation and move towards the path of progress and development.
“On the backdrop of communalism, it was caste politics that killed Mahatma Gandhi because Gandhi was seen as an obstacle against the politics of hate and above all against proliferation of caste politics and casteism. The upper caste people were trying to kill Gandhi from 1934 onwards and eventually Gandhi was killed in 1948 while taking advantage of the situation then and while pretending to be deshbhakt. And since then, the narrative is that the deshbhakt killed Gandhi who was anti-nation and anti-religion,” added Tushar Gandhi.
Professor Apoorvanand, a well-known writer and academician, while praising the scholarly work of the author, said, “This book speaks about what Gandhi said and dealt with during the crisis in South Africa and till his last breath.It narrates his struggle from one crisis to another, depicting him as a strugglingman. The nature of communalism that we have witnessed in pre-Independence India cannot be said to be the same after Independence because today it is majoritarianism that is the real threat. The challenges that we face today are a big concern for the non-Muslims and Muslims. Is the majority under threat of the minority? So, the real challenge is not communalism rather it is majoritarianism which is the biggest challenge today.”
Vipin Kumar Tripathi, Ex-Professor IIT, Delhi lauded the effort of the author and the IOS for bringing out a book on Gandhi at such a crucial time.
Amit Sachdeva, founder of Mahatma Award, New Delhi, said, “This book highlights how Gandhi fought the Britishers and communalism. The same communal forces never wanted that we should live in peace and enjoy communal harmony. The seed of hatred and division sown by the Britishers is still being followed by those who want to divide us and create enmity amongst us.”
Prof M. Afzal Wani, Vice Chairman of IOS and Pro Vice Chancellor of IILM University, while presiding over the programme, said Gandhi was an idea.That idea kept on going in history and faced challenges by persons and systems during his time, and it continues even today. He also encouraged writers and researchers to do research work on different topics including sustainable development and Gandhi.
The programme was also addressed by Dr Ashok Kumar Pandey, Shastri Ramachandran, Anil Nauriya and Prof Z.M. Khan.