THUS SPAKE ANOTHER GANDHI
by
Radha Rajan
The "Hindu" besides carrying moment to moment past tense photographs of the Charminar when the Bhagyalakshmi Temple did not exist, is also carrying one article a day trying to make sense of the crowds that turned up to grieve for Balasaheb Thackeray.
We had foot-in-mouth Markandey Katju on day 1. On day 2 it was the obnoxious Praveen Swamy. Day 3 has Gopalkrishna Gandhi talking profoundly about how history will judge Bal Thackeray.
This was what Gandhi's grandson had to say -
"To members of Balasaheb Thackeray’s family and to those who saw in him a father figure, the First Citizen of India himself has offered condolence. He has described the death as an “irreparable loss” to the nation. He speaks, by constitutional definition, for India.
Yet who can deny that there are those, and they are not few, who do not feel like grieving for him. They do not feel like joining the obsequies. Should they have been obligated to? This is a death, not a drill.
Unlike Indian bystanders at a funeral, Time does not stand still for anyone. Leaders’ legacies are judged by history and judged rather differently from what their followers, especially consanguineous followers, would like it to. They should not just be prepared for appraisals and reappraisals of Balasaheb and for consequent alterations in their own perspectives and attitudes".
It is clear Gopalkrishna Gandhi is bemoaning in his heart of heart that he is no longer personal secretary to the President of India. Gopalkrishna Gandhi should know that more than to Thackeray, his priceless words of wisdom apply to his grandfather whose name Gopalkrishna Gandhi is proudly wearing on his sleeve as he blatantly insults Thackeray, oh so politely, so profoundly!!!
I judge his grandfather by the adharmic experiments he conducted in his communes (I refuse to call them ashrams) with terrified, captive women even when his grandmother (Kasturba ben) was alive, in the Aga Khan palace where his grandfather was "allegedly" imprisoned and conducted previously practiced experiments which he continued to conduct with Manu even when he was allegedly visiting jiahd-torn Bengal to bring peace, forsooth! (This refers to sleeping with nude young girls to test his ability not to have erections- editor's note)
His grandfather is judged today by me and many like me who hold him singularly responsible for strengthening the Muslim League by weakening the Congress and the larger Hindu samaj with his unworkable non-violence (I refuse to call it ahimsa which is a noble Hindu concept). Who thought his grandfather was really going to liberate the nation?
Little did they know that the nation would be torn apart in 3 pieces and that in the end, Sardar Patel, his father Devdas Gandhi, Kishorelal Mashruwalla - had all stopped talking to his grandfather. (Did Gopalkrishna Gandhi not know this history? They all, including his own father, had lost all respect for his grandfather the so called Mahatma. That is the history. - editor's note)
Gopalkrishna Gandhi's article demeaning Thackeray's legacy can be applied rightly to his own grandfather; it must be applied to his grandfather (so called Mahatma Gandhi) first. RR
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