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Dynasties in focus

Hasan Suroor

LONDON: Did Richard Attenborough make Gandhi only in order to pay homage to the leader of India's non-violent struggle? Perhaps there was another reason.

According to Pakistan-born writer and activist Tariq Ali, who claims he got it from the horse's mouth, it was intended to explain to Western audiences that the Nehrus and the Gandhis were not related, and "Indira Gandhi was not the daughter of Mahatma Gandhi!"

But the message was lost at least on one Western leader — U.S. President Ronald Reagan. "Richard Attenborough told me that when the film was shown to Reagan he was very pleased. He said of Gandhi: `An outstanding man — like his daughter'!" Mr. Ali told an audience of academics at the Nehru Centre here to launch Mushirul Hasan's book, Nehru: Personal Histories.

Mr. Ali recounted the anecdote to underline the hold of political dynasties such as the "Nehru dynasty" on the public imagination — an issue that Professor Hasan, the historian and Vice-Chancellor of Jamia Millia, also explored later during a debate on Partition and the Nehruvian vision.

Would Nehru have approved of India "cosying up" to America? What would he have thought of India's lurch towards market economy? Where does the Nehru "dynasty" go from here? And can the Partition be undone? These were some of the questions thrown at Mr. Ali and Prof. Hasan and, though clearly there were issues on which they disagreed, both acknowledged the magic of the Nehru "dynasty" — and the contribution of the Nehruvian vision to modern India. The book has rare photographs obtained from the archives of The Hindu.

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