January 31, 2019 -
“Different religions are beautiful flowers from the same garden”. - Gandhi
Three days ago marked the 71st anniversary of the assassination of Mahatma (Sanskrit for venerable) Gandhi. Here in India you will find his image everywhere. He is both George Washington and Dr Martin Luther King rolled into one. His iconic wire rim glasses are even pictured on the metro encouraging people not to litter.
Gandhi based his drive for Indian independence on non violence and religious pluralism. At the time of partition (another nightmare invention of British colonialism and rule) the largest human migration on earth occurred as tens of thousands of Hindus and Muslims were displaced. Sectarian violence broke out and thousands died. Gandhi attempted to stop the violence with personal appearances and hunger strikes. He was so revered, it worked in many areas.
However, a Hindu fundamentalist named Nathuram Godse felt Gandhi was too accommodating to Muslim concerns. An ardent nationalist, he felt he must do something.
At 5:17 pm on Saturday January 31, 1948 he approached Gandhi who was leaving a multi faith prayer meeting. Despite his enormous fame, Gandhi did not travel with any security and was accompanied by only his grand nieces. Godse stepped out of the crowd and fired 3 shots point blank into his chest. Gandhi was 78 years old. Reportedly his last words were “Hei Ram” which roughly translates “Oh God”
What prompted this story was the political cartoon I read in the India Times paper below. India has a new nationalist Prime Minister named Modi. He was elected to ‘rule out corruption ‘ and put ‘Hindu India first’.
Given our own country’s story I thought the cartoon was poignant.
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