When Mahatma Gandhi passed away, it was said that future generation would find it difficult to believe that such a person ever lived in the world. But, no one thought that it would happen so soon within 65 years, when some of the people who have seen Gandhiji and lived in his time are still with us.
(January 29, Chennai, Sri Lanka Guardian) Mahatma Gandhi passed away on 30th January, which is observed as Martyr's day in India every year.
Mahatma Gandhi is a name well remembered in India but Gandhian philosophy is a concept that is almost ignored now.
There are some people who carry Gandhi in their name and benefit themselves by such name , but there is nothing in their activities to indicate that they are conscious of Gandhian philosophy or they adhere to it.
There are some other people who call themselves Gandhians but readily advocate un Gandhian method of hatred and violence to achieve the cause that they espouse.
Public fasting has become the order of the day and is being used as coercive tool for political or selfish purposes and in the process the Gandhian method of fasting and satyagraha stand ridiculed.
Ministers and politicians garland Gandhiji’s statue on his birth anniversary and Martyr’s day as a matter of routine but none of their political and administrative decisions have the stamp of Gandhian principles.
The latest incident of killing of a trade union leader and the factory executive in Regency Ceramics in Andhra Pradesh , amongst many other similar incidents in other parts of the country in recent times, only go to prove that violence for achieving any cause has become common in India , which is a totally un Gandhian approach to the issues.
While the name Gandhi still stands tall as icon figure in the country, the adherence to the Gandhian methods have diminished in the life of average Indian. Obviously, the country is practicing Gandhian philosophy in vacuum.
In short, today’s India has let go the advantages of having Mahatma Gandhi born and lived in the country.
When Mahatma Gandhi passed away, it was said that future generation would find it difficult to believe that such a person ever lived in the world. But, no one thought that it would happen so soon within 65 years, when some of the people who have seen Gandhiji and lived in his time are still with us.
Where does India go from here? If India would continue to ignore Gandhian philosophy and practices, it would lose its identity in the comity of nations.
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