महात्मा गाँधी को आज कैसे याद करें?

 गाँधी जयंती 2018 का लेख

भारत में दो ही महात्मा मशहूर हुए। एक, महात्मा बुद्ध और दूसरे महात्मा गाँधी। कोई तीसरा महात्मा दिमाग़ पर ज़ोर डालने पर ही याद आएगा। लेकिन, इतना ज़ोर डालने की ज़रूरत नहीं है। वैसे भी, थ्री इडियट्स में वीरू सहस्त्रबुद्धे ने कहा था नो वन एवर रिमेंम्बर्स हू कम्स सेकेंड। पता नहीं ये कितना सच है। मैं तो आख़िरी व्यक्ति को याद किए जाने के विचार का समर्थक हूँ क्योंकि हर एक ज़िंदगी ज़रूरी है, अहम है।

महात्मा गाँधी भी महात्मा बनने के बाद कुछ-कुछ ऐसा ही सोचते थे। मैं, हालाँकि, महात्मा बनने की राह पर नहीं हूँ। लेकिन, उन्हीं लोगों के बारे में, उन्हीं लोगों को पढ़ने के दौरान मुझे ये ख़्याल आया होगा कि आख़िरी व्यक्ति भी उतना ही ज़रूरी है जितना कि पहला। क़ायदे से तो पहला और आख़िरी में कोई भेद होना ही नहीं चाहिए।

याद है? महाभारत काल में जब कंस को पता चला था कि देवकी का आठवाँ पुत्र उसका वध करेगा तो वो इस इंतज़ार में रहने लगा कि कब देवकी के आठवाँ पुत्र हो और वो उसका क़त्ल करे। तो, वह पहले पुत्र के जन्म के बाद बिल्कुल भी परेशान नहीं था क्योंकि उसे आठवेँ का इंतज़ार था। फिर किसी ने उसे एक वृत्त बनाकर उसकी परीधि पर आठ बिंदुएं डालकर दिखाया और पूछा कि बताओ पहला बिंदू कौन-सा है। कंस की समझ में बात आ गई कि समय पहले और आख़िरी का निर्धारण नहीं करता है क्योंकि उसका फलक बहुत विशाल है।

लेकिन, इस विशालता का ही कुछ लोग हवाला देकर पहला और बाक़ी का निर्णय करते हैं। हमारे देश में तो राष्ट्रपति को पहला नागरिक भी माना जाता है। औपचारिक रूप से एक वरीयताक्रम भी जारी किया गया है जिसमें हमारे-आपके जैसे आम नागरिकों का तो नंबर भी नहीं आता है। हम इसीलिए शायद चुनावों में प्रतिनिधि नहीं वीआईपी चुनते हैं।

क़रीब 8-9 साल की उम्र तक मुझे वीआईपी का मतलब या तो पता नहीं था या एक ही मतलब पता था – वेरी इंपॉर्टेंट पर्सन, अति महत्वपूर्ण व्यक्ति। लेकिन अपने पैतृक गाँव के एक दौरे पर मेरे एक चाचा, जो संयोग से किसी सरकारी स्कूल में पढ़ाते भी थे, ने वीआईपी का एक दूसरा मतलब बताया, जो शायद उनके अनुभव से मिला होगा – वेरी इडियट पर्सन, अति बेहूदा व्यक्ति।

कई लोग जाने-अनजाने वीआईपी के दूसरे अर्थ को जीते हैं। सड़कों पर, बसों में, ट्रेनों में, हवाई जहाज़ में भी, मेट्रो में, संसद, विधान सभा और टीवी स्टूडियो, न्यूज़रूम वग़ैरह में दिखते हैं। और, अक्सर बिकते हैं। कई बार वीआईपी दर्ज़ा की ख़रीद-बिक्री का मामला भी सामने आता है। सब जानते हैं। हर बात को लिखकर दस्तावेज़ के तौर पर सहेजने की ज़रूरत नहीं है। होती भी नहीं है और होनी भी नहीं चाहिए। हर पीढ़ी अपने समय के हिसाब से अपना वीआईपी कल्चर कल्चर (ग़लती से दो बार नहीं लिखा है) कर लेती है।

गाँधी शायद महात्मा इसी बात से बन गए कि उन्होंने समझ लिया था कि वीआईपी सही संकल्पना, अवधारणा नहीं है। अंतिम व्यक्ति ही असली व्यक्ति है। गाँधी में ये बदलाव धीरे-धीरे आया। और, अपनी पूरी ज़िदगी जीने के बाद भी बदलाव की लकीर पूरी नहीं पाए। इस पर एक लाइन बाद में लिखूँगा। पहले ये बात कि महात्मा बनने से पहले जब गाँधी महज मोहनदास करमचंद थे (यानी पिता की दीवानी की ख़ुमारी में थे) तो अफ्रीका में काले अफ़्रीकियों के साथ वही कर रहे थे जो भारत में अंग्रेज़ भारतीयों के साथ कर रहे थे।

मोहनदास ने अफ़्रीका के काले लोगों को हब्शी समझा, माना और कहा था। उन्हें अनसिविलाइज़्ड बताया था। भारतीयों को उनसे बेहतर, श्रेष्ठ घोषित किया था। एक लेखिका, जो अमरीका से भारत आकर जयपुर लिटरेचर फ़ेस्टीवल (हिंदी में जो भी नाम हो इसका) में शामिल हुई, ने दावा किया कि मोहनदास ने अफ़्रीकी लोगों को काफ़िर बताया था। मुझे यक़ीन नहीं होता है कि मोहनदास की डिक्शनरी, जिसमें गुजराती और अंग्रेज़ी के शब्दों की भरमार रही होगी, में काफ़िर जैसा अरबी शब्द इतना हावी होगा कि अपना दुराव दिखाने के लिए इसका इस्तेमाल किया हो।

बहरहाल, मोहनदास चाहते थे कि अफ़्रीका की अंग्रेज़ी हुक़ूमत भारतीयों के साथ – जिनमें ज़्यादातर गुजराती थे – वैसा सलूक न करे जैसा काले अफ़्रीकियों के साथ किया जा रहा था। मोहनदास की दलील थी कि भारतीय सुसंस्कृत थे और मूल अफ़्रीकी असंस्कृत। मेरा ख़्याल है कि अभी तक मोहदनदास क़िताबों की दुनिया से बाहर नहीं निकले थे और कही-सुनी-पढ़ी बातों से ही दुनियादारी को परख रहे थे। उन्होंने अभी अनुभव और समझ की समझदारी से दुनिया को समझना, परखना शुरू नहीं किया था। इस दौरान, मोहनदास ट्रेन को भी बुरा मानते थे।

लेकिन, मोहनदास की क़िस्मत में महात्मा बनना बदा था सो लड़ाई मोल ले ली। ज़िद धर ली। और जब धर ली तो क़िताबें, कहावतें, सुविचार सब धरे के धरे रह गए। असली राजनीति समझ आई। जंग के पुराने क़ायदों में लगी ज़ंग दिख गई। समझ के पहिए ठोक-पीटकर सीधा किया और निकल पड़े।

ट्रेन को अभिशाप मानने वाले मोहनदास भारत को जानने ट्रेन से निकल पड़े। अपने बच्चों को अपने बड़े भाई के हवाले किया। वो समझ गए थे कि अपना बच्चा ही पहला व्यक्ति नहीं है। मेरे ख़्याल से अगर गांधी को ये बात मोहनदास रहते समझ आ गई होती तो शायद अपने बच्चे भी न पैदा करते। ख़ैर, ये हेतु-हेतु-मद की बात है। गाँधी की तलाश महात्मा पर ख़त्म हुई लेकिन आख़िरी व्यक्ति की तलाश अधूरी रही।

ये अधूरापन 15 अगस्त 1947 को महात्मा के एक विरोधाभासी काम में भी नज़र आया। इस दिन जब नेता और नीत (कुछ लोग इससे इतर अपने रंज-ओ-ग़म में भी थे) आज़ाद होने का मतलब गढ़ने का जश्न मना रहे थे तो महात्मा मौनव्रत पर थे। लेकिन अपना भाषण किसी और से पढ़वाया।

यानी, महात्मा मौन रहे लेकिन व्रत नहीं किया। महात्मा के स्तर से तो मुझे इसमें हिंसा भी नज़र आई। ख़ुद तो नहीं बोले लेकिन किसी दूसरे को बोलने को कह दिया। कहाँ चली गई थी वो गुड़ खाने वाली सीख। 

शायद, आख़िरी व्यक्ति को ढूँढ़ नहीं पाने से थक गए थे महात्मा। या, आख़िरी व्यक्ति की संख्या, तादाद इतनी थी कि फ़ेहरिस्त नहीं बना सकते थे तो टूट गए थे महात्मा। कुछ तो बात थी जो न वो बोल सके और न लोग सुन सके। और उसके बाद धीरे-धीरे फ़ुरसत का अकाल पड़ता चला गया। 

तो, आज कैसे याद करें महात्मा गाँधी को?

Gandhi Must Fall hashtag in Africa, Ghana varsity demolishes Mahatma's statue

Mahatma Gandhi statue in the University of Ghana before it was pulled down following protests calling him a racist. (Photo: Twitter)

To the rest of the world, Mahatma Gandhi is an apostle of peace, non-violence and fight for the right to equality but to some activists in Africa, he is a "racist". A campaign is going on originating in West African nation Ghana to South Africa. Hashtag Gandhi Must Fall is bringing these activists together. They have claimed their first victim in a university in Ghana.

A statue of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi best known as Mahatma Gandhi has been pulled down in the University of Ghana. Indians consider Mahatma Gandhi the Father of the Nation but to activists in Ghana he was a "racist".

The demolished Statue of Mahatma Gandhi had been inaugurated by then President of India Pranab Mukherjee in June 2016. This was the first visit to Ghana by an Indian President.

But only two months after the inauguration of the Statue of Mahatma Gandhi on the campus of the University of Ghana in capital Accra, a campaign was launched in Ghana by a group of professors and students, who called Mahatma Gandhi a racist based on his initial writing in South Africa.

Before taking the cudgels against the British colonial rulers in India in 1915-16, Mahatma Gandhi had lived for 21 years in South Africa and waged a struggle for the right to equality there. During this period - 1893 to 1914, Mahatma Gandhi developed his tools - Satyagrah and Ahimsa - for struggle against the repressive colonial government.

During the period of struggle, Mahatma Gandhi also shed his own notions about racial differences and resistance to simplest of modern technology including the railways.

However, the protesting professors and students, who got enforcements from activists, rejected the evolving views of Mahatma Gandhi and singled out his initial writings to wage a war against his statue on the campus of the University of Ghana.

The inauguration of the statue of Mahatma Gandhi might also have been ill-timed. Mahatma Gandhi was being debated and protested strongly in Ghana when the statue was inaugurated in its capital two years ago.

The protests flowed from a book written by two South African authors, who quoted from the letters of Mahatma Gandhi to proclaim that the man who provided basic tenets of civil struggle to the likes of Nelson Mandela in South Africa and Martin Luther King  Jr in the US was a racist.

Two instances were most cited by the protesters. In one instance, Mahatma Gandhi in 1904 wrote to the British administration in South Africa using the word "Kaffirs" for native black people. The word was considered derogatory as a reference to the native black people. Today, this word as reference to the black people is compared with another derogatory word, "negros". Back then "kaffir" was the word used by the colonial rulers to refer to the black people in South Africa.

Two years later, in 1906, Mahatma Gandhi again used the same word to protest the treatment being meted out to the Indians living in South Africa. Mahatma Gandhi wrote, "The Boer government insulted the Indians by classing them with "kaffirs."

Protest against Mahatma Gandhi on the ground in Ghana soon found way to online campaign platform, change.org where a petition to pull down the statue was signed in large numbers. Mahatma Gandhi's quotes were circulated on social media and referred to in public meetings by the protesting activists to boost their campaign.

One of the oft-referred quotes of Mahatma Gandhi in Ghana was this: "Ours is one continual struggle against a degradation sought to be inflicted upon us by the Europeans, who desire to degrade us to the level of the raw kaffir whose occupation is hunting, and whose sole ambition is to collect a certain number of cattle to buy a wife with and then pass his life in indolence and nakedness."

Finally on the intervening night of December 11 and 12, when the scores of Indians were hooked to screens watching the BJP versus Congress electoral battle in the Hindi heartland, the statue of Mahatma Gandhi was uprooted from the plinth in the University of Ghana.

#GandhiMustFall - Statue of Mahatma Gandhi removed from University of Ghana campus.

Thousand of students signed a petition to get rid of it because of Gandhi's litany of racist statements against black Africans.https://t.co/so2cfCyt23 pic.twitter.com/wiZJUPDDoQ

— Tom Kavanagh (@_TomKavanagh) December 13, 2018

The Mahatma Gandhi statue was pulled down after Ghana's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration approved a petition by the university council. The government in New Delhi has not reacted to the development till the time of writing.

The successful protest against Mahatma Gandhi statue in Ghana has revived a campaign in South Africa, which withstood a similar protest in 2003-04. In South Africa, the campaign is against a statue of Mahatma Gandhi in Johannesburg, near an ashram where Gandhi lived. Hashtag Gandhi Must Fall is being pushed on social media.

My alma mater, the University of #Ghana was forced to pull down a statue of #Gandhi.
It followed the #GandhiMustFall campaign by lecturers & students who accused the #Indian Independence leader of using racist terms to describe black Africans.
I took this pics early this year pic.twitter.com/Adcq3rXVR4

— Benjamin Tetteh (@benjieluv) December 13, 2018

Anna: From Movement To Agitation

(Reproducing the article that I wrote for Merinews yesterday)

The British ruled over India for about 190 years during which they sustained what they believed the biggest jolt to their rule in the form of Revolt of 1857. Historians, now, say that the revolt of 1857 failed to live upto its promise because of its inherent weaknesses, biggest being internal dissensions. And, the British continued to rule for another 90 years. There seem to be a parallel in Anna’s movement for Lokpal Bill which is evidently directed against the present UPA government.

It was only last year, when the entire nation made beeline behind an old man, who finds Gandhism thrust upon him. Anna Hazare has tried to emulate the Mahatma, but despite his personal integrity and grit, his movement has all the signs of frittering away and waning. People of the country are no longer moved by his call for fight against corruption. The government prepares for his call for fast, agitation and mass gathering, but somewhere within, it knows that Anna is more like a spent force now.

There are three important components of the Anna Movement, Anna, himself, his Team and people. Anna, first. The supposed Gandhian leader took up the cause floated by India Against Corruption and championed it and on the way to mercurial popularity he expanded his arena of fight from Maharashtra to cover entire India. He was clearly swayed by the volumes of support that he got from the people of this country, who felt that a new Gandhi had emerged to take on the might of the government, which had been disconnected from the people it governed. People’s anger found a genuine expression in Anna’s call to stand against corruption. Similar emotion had already been experimented successfully in Bollywood through films like Lage Raho Munna Bhai, where people clapped when an old man, a retired school teacher embarrasses a government official to secure his pension.

People are fed up with the all pervasive corruption for long now and Gandhianised Anna gave hope to them. But, somehow, Anna Hazare failed to keep that mass support intact. One has to accept this as Anna’s inherent weakness. He is no Gandhi. People failed to realize this and their expectations of Anna remained so high that he could not have lived upto. He lacks the organizational skill and the understanding of public mood of the Mahatma. Also, Anna Hazare has not been consistent in his speeches and actions over past one and a half-year, which is so un-Gandhian. This drifted the masses away from him and his movement.

Anna’s team is, at its best, pulling in different directions. Allegations of nepotism and dictatorial attitude have been the biggest obstacle in accomplishing the task that the team has taken unto itself. Chief architect of the Team Anna, Arvind Kejriwal has, somehow, alienated all colleagues but a few. Even Anna Hazare does not seem to be in sync with his team all the time. This has exposed an organized bunch of activists to the ruthlessness of the government. Also, the allegations against Kiran Bedi of malpractices and of having communal tinge against the team have not done any good for it. The inevitable result has been loss of credibility of Team Anna among the masses.

On their part, people have also behaved in an intriguing manner. All of a sudden, when the middle was rising, the masses in India rallied behind Anna Hazare, giving hope to the old wise man. Anna mistook this momentary exuberance of people as their readiness for a long drawn battle against the government. This was not. The hope of Ramlila Maidan in Delhi, the political capital dashed in the Azad Maidan in Mumbai, the commercial capital. It also served the Team Anna a clear message that people cannot sacrifice their economic/commercial interests for some wayward political gains. This is precisely why and how Anna’s anti-graft movement became a pro-lokpal agitation. The coming days, beginning today, are likely to follow the same pattern.

Irom Sharmila: Gandhian War Against AFSPA

The anti-corruption cum government movements led by Yog Merchant Baba Ramdev and anti-graft Gandhian activist turned symbol of youth's aspirations in India, have done a world of good to a distinctly different pro-human rights struggle led by Iron Humane Lady Irom Sharmila. The forgotten struggle of Irom Sharmila seeking repeal of Armed Forces Special Power Act of 1958 has come to the fore. Irom has been on hunger strike for last 11 years but has largely remained unnoticed. Finally, the hunger strikes by people's leaders has brought the strong willed human rights crusader in the national debate. The recent hunger strikes by Ramdev and Anna have put across the board a message to Irom that a team is required to make authorities listen. And, now Team Irom Sharmila is taking some concrete shape and it seems to be taking definite cue from Anna Hazare movement against corruption.

Team Irom Sharmila has now decided to intensify the movement in midst of ongoing blockade in Manipur for more than two months-- by Sadar Hill District Demanding Committee and a counter blockade by United Naga Council. The economic blockade of the national highways connecting Manipur with the rest of the Northeast has created an acute shortage of essential commodities in the state. LPG is selling at Rs 2000 while petrol is selling at over Rs 160, potatoes at over Rs 50 a kg and tomatoes nearly Rs 80 a kg. Even the life saving medicines are hard to find. Team Sharmial wants to exploit the prevailing situation to bring forth their demand for repeal of AFSPA which has made life of ordinary citizens in the state equally vulnerable. Sharmila supporters claim that under the AFSPA rule, an average of two to three persons are being killed by the armed forces and no action is being taken against them.

The Armed Forces Special Powers Act was legislated in 1958 to fight the internal armed rebels. The AFSPA was aimed at meeting the challenges posed by the Naga insurgency in the erstwhile NEFA. It was later extended to entire northeast and in Jammu and Kashmir in 1990, after emergence of terrorism sponsored by Pakistan. But, its imposition in peace time has met with resistance from the human rights activists but the government has maintained that the Act is necessary to keep the disturbing forces in check. The insurgents and separatists in both regions have used the government's decision to impose AFSPA as tool to alienate the resident population.

In Manipur, Sharmila took the cudgels to challenge the might of the government and her method has always been Gandhian, shorn of violence, concrete in belief and consistent in perseverance. And, truly the movement has now drawn inspiration from another Gandhian activist, Anna Hazare, who challenged the mightiest government of the largest democracy for going away from the popular perception on corruption and its handling.

Though in certain parts of the northeast, people have tried to give it an ethnic colour by saying that the AFSPA is aimed to making people with mongoloid features suffer at the hands of rest of the mainland ethnic groups. But, Sharmila has always detested such views while terming the Act draconian. This Gandhian (consciously or not) activist needs to be dealt with in a better manner by the state and the central governments. Putting her in police custody or force-feeding her is not a way to deal with peaceful protest that the father of the nation espoused in his fight against a colonial government. Irom Sharmila is a Gandhian made of a different metal.

Sonia Appears Before Gandhi

Congress president Sonia Gandhi made her first public appearance on Sunday after her surgery in the United States recently. Along with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the UPA chief paid homage to Mahatma Gandhi on his 142nd birth anniversary at Rajghat.

Sonia returned to India on September 08. Since then, Sonia had avoided public meetings and functions even though the UPA government witnessed a bitter clash between two of its senior ministers. She dealt with the crisis but stayed away from public giving rise to speculations that Sonia may be planning to pass on the mantle of the party to her son, Rahul Gandhi. Sundayz public appearance is being viewed as a signal that Sonia is still at the helm of the affairs both in the congress party and the UPA.

Sonia Gandhi is still recuperating from her surgery, but she has got herself into handling issues plaguing the Manmohan Singh govt including infighting and court developments in 2G scam and cash for votes scandal. Sonia is said to be working on alternate plans for a possible adverse court judgements post-Dussehra vacation, when hearing on several scams resume. The forced patch between two senior cabinet ministers over secret 2G note, effected by Sonia Gandhi last week was part of her alternate plans to navigate the government's ship through the turbulent waters of scandals and scams.

Sonia Gandhi's partial resumption of party work and her first public appearance at Rajghat on Mahatma Gandhi's 142nd anniversary comes at a time when the opposition is going berserk in its criticism of the scam tainted UPA government. Her public appearance also came a couple of days after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh alleged that there are forces at work to destabilize the government. With this in backdrop, Sonia Gandhiz appearance before Mahatma Gandhi's samadhi seems to be an attempt to make an emphatic statement that she is not losing grip over nation's politics.

Sonia Gandhi had given indications of taking command of the party affairs some days ago itself when she summoned Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot in the wake of Bharatpur communal violence and two state ministers being dragged into controversies surrounding women, one of them is traceless while the other has died. Also, Sonia Gandhi called on Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar last week, which according to sources yielded into Kumar giving sanction to prosecute BJP MP Ashok Argal in the cash for votes scandal. Clearly, Sonia wants to put her message in a very straightforward style, that has been typical of her in past two decades.