The speakers included: Akash Banerjee, a journalist, and Founder & Host of 'The Deshbhakt', a social media platform that uses satire to disseminate news, Faisal Devji is Professor of Indian History, University of Oxford, Mridula Mukherjee is a historian of modern India and retired as Professor, Centre for Historical Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. The session was chaired by Nilanjan Sarkar is Deputy Director, LSE South Asia Centre and Sanam Arora an LSE alumnus, and Chairperson of the National Indian Students and Alumni Union UK Chair was a discussant.
Is Gandhi relevant today?
Historian Mridula Mukherjee said, “Let's just go back to the last month of 2019. In India, when we had one of the most powerful grassroot levels, almost spontaneous mass movements in India, in which the youth were at the forefront and women. Both groups with whom Gandhi had always been very popular, the movement which emerged against the proposed legislation on the issue of the National Register of Citizens and Citizenship Amendment Act. I think it was about altering the way citizenship was granted, changing the ground bringing in religion as a factor in various ways. But in this movement, very consciously, Gandhi was a guiding figure.”
She also said that Gandhiji very clearly articulated what was to be the India of his dreams. What was his idea of India as Nehru asked, which he was setting out to mould according to his own wishes and ideas? Mukherjee quoted, “I shall work for an India in which the poorest shall feel that it is their country, in whose making they have an effective voice and India in which there shall be no high class and low class of people. And in India in which all communities shall live in perfect harmony. Women will enjoy the same rights as men. Overall interests not in conflict with the interests of the dumb millions will be scrupulously respected, whether foreign or indigenous.” She further added, “Personally, he said, I hit the distinction between foreign and injudicious, this is the India of my dreams, I shall be satisfied with nothing less. And since we have not yet achieved the India of Gandhiji his dreams. He remains very, very relevant to us today.”
Dr Professor Faisal Devji (who is professor of Indian history at Oxford and is the author of the impossible Indian Gandhi and the temptation of violence, which was published in 2012) said, “What should be done, he thought, was rescuing social relations from this logic of property and interest owned by the state through non violent practices of renunciation and self sacrifice. When you look at all of Gandhi's categories, negative categories are hidden. They all begin with “non” , something that doesn't exist. There are renunciate story categories and practices, they are sacrificial in various ways. And it was only in this way that he thought they could claim their sovereignty that ordinary people claim the sovereignty.”
Journalist Akash Banerjee said, “Somebody brilliantly said that, you know, this is a question that has been asked for the last 50 years or more. And everybody questions whether Gandhi is going to be relevant or not, and we keep questioning it and he completely keeps being relevant.”
Sanam Arora, LSE alumnus, and is Chairperson of NISAU, UK “I do not think that an adequate attempt has been made by the progressives, the liberals, the fact driven people, the academia, to reach out in a simplistic manner to the next generation, in a very easy conversant social media friendly, short, content based format. So I think that is what needs to be done.”
152nd birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi at Parliament Square
On the occasion of the 152nd birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, the High Commission of India in London paid homage to the Father of our Nation with floral tributes, bhajans and talks on the relevance of his life and message in the present times.
The day began at Parliament Square where High Commissioner HE Gaitri Issar Kumar, Deputy High Commissioner Shri Charanjeet Singh, Heads of the Defence Wings and other officers of the High Commission paid homage in the form of floral tributes to the statue of Mahatma Gandhi. At Tavistock Square Gardens, Deputy High Commissioner Shri Sujit Ghosh welcomed the Mayor of Camden Councillor Sabrina Francis, the guest of honour. Wreaths were placed to pay homage to the Gandhi memorial by the Deputy High Commissioner, Heads of the Defence Wings, community leaders, councillors and MPs. The Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan and the Sergam Cultural Institute collaborated to bring some of Bapu’s favourite bhajans. A peace march organised by the Gita Foundation and the National Association of Patidar Samaj were flagged off.
The High Commissioner inaugurated an illuminating exhibition of Gandhi’s life illustrated in photographs, curated by Mr Pandey from Benaras. She also announced the curation of a special volume of essays by prominent Gandhian Scholars. At The Nehru Centre, the High Commission’s cultural wing, a virtual talk was hosted by Shri Amish Tripathi with Mr Raju Hirani on the concept of ‘Gandhigiri’.
The High Commission of India with the support of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan launched virtual Sanskrit Speaking Classes lessons for ten weeks from 2 Oct - 4 Dec 2021 from 4 to 5 PM.
Indian Foreign Secretary pays homage to Gandhi on Sri Lanka visit
Indian Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla paid homage to Mahatma Gandhi and Sri Lanka's Foreign Minister GL Peiris, High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka Gopal Baglay here on Mahatma Gandhi's 152nd birth anniversary.
