New Delhi   

"Gandhi relevant even today"

Staff Reporter

People have stopped understanding him, rues the Mahatma's great grandson

IN HIS SHADOW: Tushar Gandhi at Gandhi Peace Foundation in New Delhi on Tuesday. Photo: S. Subramanium

NEW DELHI: While Harvard Business School describes Mahatma Gandhi "as one of the greatest managers of our times", his own country has begun questioning his relevance today, rued Tushar Gandhi, the Mahatma's great grandson and Managing Trustee of the Mahatma Gandhi Foundation, here on Tuesday.

"I am often faced with this question of whether Gandhi is relevant today or is it a medicine past its use-by date. The question is more asked because of ignorance. People have stopped understanding Gandhi," he said delivering the Gandhi Peace Foundation Lecture: 2007 on "Gandhi's Relevance In An Age of Terrorism And Globalisation".

"Taking note of his skills of management, Harvard Business School described him as one of the greatest managers of our times for his event management, his management of human resource and public relations. He inspired not just the highly educated from the cities, but even small time farmers. He planned the `Namak Satyagraha' to such perfection that people were astounded by his creativity," said Mr. Gandhi.

"Because people have frozen Gandhi in time, they end up questioning his relevance. Today we ask how we can be non-violent in the face of terrorism. But the war on terrorism is not making us any safer."

Virtues of non-violence as preached and practised by the Mahatma, he said, are relevant even today and can be used as a potent weapon against terrorism. "You can kill terrorists with bullets, but nobody has succeeded in finishing terrorism that way. A glaring example of this was the conflict between Northern Ireland and Britain. Until some people decided to sit across and talk, there was no end to the blood shed."

Revenge, he said, does not bring justice and terrorism rears its head when the cry for help of those discriminated against is refused.

He pointed out that unlike spiritualism, which is a booming business in the country, Mahatma Gandhi cannot be worshiped.

"Gandhi needs to be studied. I am surprised by the introduction of Gandhi as a subject in the universities," he said.

Regretting that people had failed to understand the true meaning of Gandhism, he said: "Wearing khadi and spinning the charkha is a very simplistic definition of a Gandhian. A real Gandhian is one who works for the downtrodden and the oppressed."

He was also critical of people tampering with nature and development work not percolating down to the needy.

"India is an IT power and there is an economy boom. If on one hand we have the Bombay Stock Exchange crossing 13,000 points, there are tribals in Thane, living 150 km away who are dying of malnutrition."

Regretting that Gandhian institutions had failed to give direction, Mr. Gandhi said: "Khadi today is a parasite that thrives on subsidies. It was meant to be a vibrant industry that would rejuvenate the villages."

Pointing out that the country is overawed by "imported" ideas and things, Mr. Gandhi said the world is today utilising Gandhi more than us. "Foreigners often tell me that they will send Gandhi back to us."

Executive Director of the Leadership Center of the Morehouse College, U.S., Prof. Walter Fluker, urged the new generation to be courageous. He referred to the teachings of Martin Luther King Junior and said he had received inspiration from the non-violent approach against oppression that was employed by Gandhi.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

"Gandhi relevant even today"
A blend of academic work with practical engineering skills
RWAs criticise Jaipal Reddy
High Court order welcomed
L-G notifies order on free-ship for poor students
Showcasing "Spiritual Odyssey"
Schoolchildren track down time
Stage set for Surajkund Mela
Historic sites to be restored
Why not IB officers as Governors, asks Chaturvedi
In the Capital Today

Copyright © 2007, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu