About three days ago, the statement was running on every news channel and got a very well space in the newspaper; debates and arguments had been conducted on every social media platform gradually, supporters and trollers came up in the support of their perspective thinking process either its leftist or rightist. “Choose your Heroes wisely.” The statement was made to denote Mahatma Gandhi and his struggle for independence as alms which had been given by the British. “When someone slaps on your right cheek, you will offer left cheek too”, that was the thought of Gandhi, who followed Ahimsa all his life. Being referred this quote, Kangana’s mark on Gandhi as a greedy, who fought for the position and recognition is right or wrong, where she read it, these all are now questions, everyone has its right to say without any burden or hesitation in this country because we are holding the flag of democracy. And our constitution gives us the right of ‘freedom of speech. This section has its importance because there is a large section of the population who need to criticize and voice up against the situation which they have been facing for so many generations but our so-called media is not looking at this section because it will make their audience think and if they started thinking it will be hard for them to apply the strategy of manipulation. It would be one of the reasons that Kangana has been getting space in the media to divert the attention of people.
This is not the first time that Gandhi is in the news, we have had examples who criticized Gandhi and used it for their political benefits. From Sadhavi Pragya Singh to the group, who worshipped Nathuram Godse on the death anniversary of Gandhi, all are examples of the thought process, who believe in celebrating the ideology of hate and separation. He has been the identity of India since his arising as a main leader of the Indian freedom struggle. If we look at his stature no other leader in the world, who inspired others to become good leaders more than Gandhi. In this list, some examples are like Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandella who had their impact on the twentieth century to the leader of the present century such as Barak Obama and Aung San Suu Kyi, who was sitting in the highest chair of their respective countries. What was the reason for believing him and following him by the world leaders? Even their countries also produced leaders but still, the method which was applied by Gandhi was strange and new to the world. That could be one of the reasons; however, his presence still bothers one section of this country.
I know Gandhi a little bit through his story in the news, videos, or some anecdotes which are shared by his followers, but the most significant information I have learned about him after reading some chapters from his autobiography ‘My experiments with truth’. From a normal man to an extraordinary leader, this journey inspired me to think about him and his evolution. How the thoughts and experiences can be responsible for changing a person. It could give him or her a new identity and the most beautiful thing about thoughts are you can apply them at any stage of your life, in addition, you would be responsible for the change in the society. If we criticize or praise someone that means we obey or disobey the thought, so, the argument is not between person to person, the argument is related to the thought and ideology in the society.
After Buddha and Mahavir, who were known for their spiritual and social reform, Gandhi was also walking on the same path. He had used spirituality in his political movement, and also embraced the value of ‘Ahimsa‘ with another value called ‘Truth’. These were the two most important weapons of Gandhi, which had used against the British government to compel independence. Therefore, this is not acceptable to say, “Gandhi was not using weapons to fight.” He used and there were many movements such as Quit India, Non-Corporation, Chaparanya Satyagraha, and Dandi March; were some examples of his fight against the British. No one can deny, if we read history properly with the conscious mental state, then we realize, because of these movements the fall of the British government happened. This is the method of war using non-violence as a weapon and it carries more strength than violence. The power of non-violence is, even in London, there is a statue of Mahatma Gandhi in the parliament area, this is the biggest achievement of any leader or a worrier that your one-time enemy country shows respect to you, and also teaches the upcoming generation about you and your work. Even Hitler is not praised and recognized by his own country, but on another side, Gandhi is idealized by the world. He achieved this because of his two weapons; Truth and Non-violence.
He passed away seventy-three years ago, but still, we bring him in the discussion, conclave, and debates. This is also the power of his ideology, named ‘Gandhian Ideology’, which carries him after his passing and makes him relevant. The well-portrayed of Gandhi and his ideology in the film of Lage Raho Munnabhai, a gangster applies ‘Gandhigiri’ in daily life to solve his problems. Or the film ‘Gandhi’, which won Oscar, released in 1984, also made an impact and set up the new norms. He is the only leader, whose life has been celebrated on the celluloid every decade. This is the relevance he has and in the future probably he will be celebrated more because of changing situation and revolution, which has been taken place after the Taliban installation in Afghanistan. If Gandhi was alive then definitely, he would have made a journey to Afghanistan for helping the innocents out over there. If people love him or praise him that is also his achievement, and if people hate him or criticize him, that is also his presence in their thought process and his one of the achievements. “Gandhi was in the battle…Gandhi is in the battle…Gandhi will be in the battle.” This is the beauty of his life.
Life goes on 