Gandhiji
The Salt March, also
famous as the Dandi March of 1930, was an act of civil disobedience led by Mahatma
Gandhi to protest British rule in India. During the march, thousands of Indians
followed Gandhiji from Ahmedabad to the Arabian Sea coast, a distance of some
240 miles. Whether it was the satyagraha in Champaran of Bihar, the
non-cooperation movement or the Salt March, Gandhiji always took care to target
one grievance with one specific form of protest. This micro-level mobilisation
aggregated into an overarching sense of nationhood that entered the
consciousness of the subcontinent’s people.
This enabled Gandhiji
to move towards the realisation of his larger vision of turning the stratified
people into a cohesive Indian nation. The Dandi March was just one of the
several forms of protest he had devised against the colonial rulers. He unified
the diverse Indian groups to rise as one nation. And he succeeded in his
mission largely, if not completely.
It is not possible
the capture Gandhiji’s epic struggle against the world’s most powerful empire
here. He was arrested several times, ridiculed, and assaulted. But he did not quit
on his nonviolent instruments of struggle, nor did he lose faith in the attainability
of his dream of a democratic, secular and sovereign India.
The British may have
denied the Nobel Prize to Gandhiji, but there was no way they could prevent him
from becoming an icon of peace and tolerance across the globe. His legacy of
peaceful mass movements has influenced leaders across the world, right from USA’s
Martin Luther King to South Africa’s Nelson Mandela.
In the subcontinent
itself, JP Narayan used the Gandhian way effectively against Mrs. Indira Gandhi
in the 1970s. Now, it is Pakistan’s Imran Khan and India’s Rahul Gandhi who are
following in Gandhiji’s footsteps – partially if not completely.
Rahul
Gandhi:
1.
Scion of India’s First Family. Not used to
the hurly-burly of India’s street politics. He has been frequently depicted as
an arrogant shahzada, who oozes with a sense of entitlement.
2.
Ridiculed as a “pappu” he has been unfairly
targeted by the BJP’s trolls as someone who is innocent of wisdom and common
sense.
3.
Rahul’s mindless and immature acts did not
help the matters. The manner in which he tore a piece of paper describing it as
the ordinance 2013 which was passed by Dr Manmohan Singh’s UPA government to
protect convicted politicians in front of the media persons only confirmed the
BJP’s portrayal of his immaturity and arrogance.
4.
Rahul Gandhi appears to have matured over the
years. He has shed diffidence and has entered the arena by resorting to Bharat
Jodo Yatra. He has learnt to live with the ruling party’s pressure tactics, including
CBI and ED cases against Rahul, Sonia and Robert Vadra, which remain
inconclusive and sub-judice. The National Herald issue and bickering in the
Congress are magnified in the servile media’s news bulletins. Rahul has
obviously shrugged these off and continues with the Bharat Jodo Yatra.
5.
Public response to his Yatra has been
enthusiastic. The crowds are getting larger with time, much to the entrenched
BJP’s discomfort and alarm. Already, there are signs of the BJP leadership
taking desperate steps to sabotage the Yatra. All sorts of canards are being
spread against him. The Twitter trolls have been hitting new depths of lewdness
and vulgarity. There is a desperate attempt at character assassination by
attributing obscene motives to Rahul’s interaction with his female fans or
relatives.
6.
The mainstream media have been ignoring the
Yatra and focusing on building up Modi’s public image. They cover Modi as if he
is the only newsworthy neta in the country. Not even Indira Gandhi had received
this type of servile eulogies from the media during or after her lifetime.
Rahul’s
Bharat Jodo Yatra may not bring immediate dividends in terms of poll victories.
But there is every chance that it will help cleanse the political ecosystem to
some extent. This may sound naïve, but if we notice Rahul has refused to
politicise the Morbi Bridge tragedy, or lower his political discourse to the
street-fighter level, or allow undesirable characters, especially bahubalis,
to join his Yatra, the effort becomes laudable indeed.
Rahul
is facing a daunting task of reuniting a polity fractured by the divisive
politics, which became virulent during LK Advani’s Ram Rath Yatra, climaxing
with the destruction of Babri Masjid and the subsequent cycle of bloodbaths in
different parts of the country. The 2002 Gujarat riots finally sealed the
ruptured state of our liberal-secular superstructure.
Imran
Khan
When
bullets rained on Imran Khan, it was a Gandhi-Godse moment. The assailant was
convinced that killing Imran would be good for Pakistan and its people. Why was
Imran targeted? What powers are behind this attempt? Only time will tell.
Imran
started as Pakistan’s star cricketer. His charisma, however, transcended the
cricket grounds. After hitting media headlines for both right and wrong reasons,
he found politics as his new arena. It took him some time to learn the ropes of
his new calling but soon became deft enough to become Pakistan’s Prime
Minister, but not deft enough to stay in power. He managed to irritate
Pakistan’s masters in the United States and alarm the Deep State in Pakistan
itself. Soon he was out of power.
Imran
took a leaf from the Gandhian book of protest as he realised it would be unwise
to take on the far more powerful Pakistan Army head-on. He chose the nonviolent
way of mass movement. Soon, he became a massive threat.
Let
us be clear. Imran is no Gandhian. Nor is he a babe in the woods of political
intrigues any more. But he has been clever enough to realise that by projecting
himself as a non-politician sportsperson, he has hit a chord among the masses.
That he has convinced the masses that he has no personal stake in entering the
political arena. Whatever he is doing is for the good of the people of
Pakistan.
His “honest
patriot” persona has become a political asset. No wonder his “long march” is
attracting millions across Pakistan. Although he does not advocate violence in
his speeches, his followers do not hesitate while indulging in violence. Also,
Imran does not profess love for his tormentors, unlike Gandhiji.
Imran
Khan is struggling against the imminent unravelling of the state of Pakistan.
He is waging a desperate battle against the rapacious politicians of Pakistan,
who give a damn about the welfare of the common people. It is unlikely that the
attempt on his life will deter him from his chosen mission.
And
Rahul has countered the divisive politics in India by resurrecting the real
spirit of a secular and democratic India.
Gandhiji
must be smiling in the heavens.
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