| by N.S.Venkataraman
( October 2,
2012, Chennai, Sri Lanka Guardian) Today ( 2nd October) is the birth day of
Mahatma Gandhi the great son of India, an apostle of non violence and the
conscience keeper of the world. It is
around 63 years now since Mahatma
Gandhi passed away but his thoughts and philosophy have withstood the test of
time and continues to remain as inspiration to the world community.
When Mahatma
Gandhi passed away , Einstein said that the future generation would find it
difficult to believe that there was a man like Gandhi who could have lived in
this world. Now, the younger generation realize how truthful were the words of
Einstein. Youth of today who have not
seen Gandhiji are left wondering as to
how a person could have been so truthful
and honest.
The sad fact is
that today’s India has failed to live up to his expectations.
One of the
cardinal principles of Mahatma Gandhi ,apart from several other great ideas ,
was that prohibition should be enforced strictly and people should not take
liquor. Apart from dehumanizing the man
, the liquor habit uproots the families in the lower income group with the
earning member frittering away his
resources in the liquor shop and driving
the poor families into despair. On the
other hand today , several state governments
in India are trying to boost the liquor sale to increase the revenue.
Mahatma Gandhi
laid great stress on personal honesty and probity not only in public life but
also in personal life. Unfortunately, in
India political and administrative and personal corruption is widely prevalent
and India is now considered as one of the most corrupt countries in the
world. It is hard to believe that a
country which has adopted Mahatma Gandhi as the father of the nation could
deteriorate to this extent.
Mahatma Gandhi
undertook fast seventeen times in his life as a method of self purification,
self punishment and as part of his efforts to restore probity , eliminate
violence and religious fanaticism.
Today, fasting has become a pastime for many people in India with
someone fasting in the name of fighting corruption , someone else fasting
demanding wage rise and some one else even fasting for separate state etc. and
all such activities are carried out with political and ulterior motives.
Fasting has become the most misused terminology in India today, which is a
great injustice being done to the Gandhian philosophy.
What is most
tragic is that the democratic form of governance in India which is a highly desirable
form of governance, has enabled many
dishonest people and criminal elements to get into parliament and legislative
assemblies and become ministers on some occasions. Thus law breakers who should be in jail have
become the laws makers in quite a few cases. The concerned country men who
understand the gravity of the situation remains as mere spectators without revolting. In such scenario, the bribe culture appears
to be becoming be all and end all of life for an average Indian citizen.
Now, let us
visualize as to how Mahatma Gandhi would have reacted to the present conditions in India , if he
were alive.
Gandhiji would
have sacrificed his personal comforts and fought for the cause of probity
relentlessly. Above all, he would have been fully honest even in fighting
against the corrupt forces and would have used his tool of satyagraha with great elegance and impact on the
society. He would have fought for the
battle for the truth in the minds and hearts of citizens and would have done
his level best to reform the mindset of the individuals , so that fight against
corruption becomes part and parcel of
every man’s day today life.
 Today ( 2nd October) is the birth day of Mahatma Gandhi...){kind=link}