On my mind : How wrong can I be?
Music : Take me dancing by Sting
I am half way through the book "Freedom at midnight " by Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre and these are the things I found.....
When India was to be divided into India nd Pakistan, Gandhi woke up at 3:30 in the morning[30 minutes earlier than he used to] and whispered to his great niece Manu, 'Today I find myself alone. Even Nehru and Patel think I'm wrong and peace is sure to return if partition is agreed upon. They wonder if I have not deteriorated with age...Maybe all of them are right and I alone am floundering in the darkness.' After a long silence ,'I shall perhaps not be alive to witness it' he said, 'but should the evil I apprehend overtake India and her independence be imperilled, let posterity know the agony this old soul went through thinking of it.'
I never did have a strong liking for Gandhi and his ideals of non-violence when I was growing up....a lot of it was due to the misconceptions that took birth in my mind.....only an 'old soul'and the lord above could know the truth! Sometimes perception is so far away from truth.....
8 comments:
Personally I am not a big fan of Gandhi either.
I dunno yet... what was true or not!!! :|
Thats a very touchy topic you started.. Got this fwd a few dayz ago.. dunno if its genuine..
Nathuram Godse's speech at trial ..
" On January 13, 1948, I learnt that Gandhiji had decided to go on
fast unto death. The reason given was that he wanted an assurance of
Hindu-Muslim Unity... But I and many others could easily see that the
real motive... [was] to compel the Dominion Government to pay the sum
of Rs 55 crores to Pakistan, the payment of which was emphatically
refused by the Government.... But this decision of the people's
Government was reversed to suit the tune of Gandhiji's fast. It was
evident to my
mind that the force of public opinion was nothing but a trifle when
compared with the
leanings of Gandhiji favourable to Pakistan.
....In 1946 or thereabout, Muslim atrocities perpetrated on Hindus
under the Government patronage of Surhawardy in Noakhali made our
blood boil. Our shame and indignation knew no bounds when we saw that
Gandhiji had come forward to shield that very Surhawardy and began to
style him as 'Shaheed Saheb' - a martyr - even in his prayer
meetings.......Gandhiji's influence in the Congress first increased
and then became supreme. His activities for public awakening were
phenomenal in their intensity and were reinforced by the slogans of
truth and non-violence which he ostentatiously paraded before the
country... I could never conceive that an armed resistance to the
aggressor is unjust... Ram killed Ravan in a tumultuous fight...
Krishna killed Kansa to end his wickedness... In condemning Shivaji,
Rana Pratap and Guru Govind as 'misguided patriots,'
Gandhiji has merely exposed his self-conceit... Gandhiji was,
paradoxically, a violent pacifist who brought untold calamities on the
country in the name of truth and nonviolence, while Rana Pratap,
Shivaji and the Guru will remain enshrined in the hearts of their
countrymen forever...
By 1919, Gandhiji had become desperate in his endeavours to get the
Muslims to trust him and went from one absurd promise to another... He
backed the Khilafat movement in this country and was able to enlist
the full support of the National Congress in that policy... very soon
the Moplah Rebellion showed that the Muslims had not the slightest
idea of national unity... There followed a huge slaughter of Hindus...
The British Government, entirely unmoved by the rebellion, suppressed
it in a few months and left to Gandhiji the joy of his Hindu-Muslim
Unity... British imperialism emerged stronger, the Muslims became more
fanatical, and the
consequences were visited on the Hindus...
The accumulating provocation of 32 years, culminating in his last
pro-Muslim fast, at last goaded me to the conclusion that the
existence of Gandhiji should be brought to an end immediately... he
developed a subjective mentality under which he alone was the final
judge of what was right or wrong... Either Congress had to surrender
its will to him and play second fiddle to all his eccentricity,
whimsicality... or it had to carry on without him... He was the
master brain guiding the civil disobedience movement... The movement
may succeed or fail; it may bring untold disasters and political
reverses, but that could make no difference to the Mahatma's
infallibility... These childish inanities and obstinacies, coupled
with a most severe austerity of life, ceaseless work and lofty
character, made Gandhiji formidable and irresistible... In a position
of such absolute irresponsibility, Gandhiji was guilty of blunder
after
blunder...
....The Mahatma even supported the separation of Sindh from the Bombay
Presidency and threw the Hindus of Sindh to the communal wolves.
Numerous riots took place in Karachi, Sukkur, Shikarpur and other places in
which the Hindus were the only sufferers...
....From August 1946 onwards, the private armies of the Muslim League
began a massacre of the Hindus... Hindu blood began to flow from
Bengal to Karachi
with mild reactions in the Deccan... The Interim government formed in
September was sabotaged by its Muslim League members, but the more they
became disloyal and treasonable to the government of which they were a part,
the greater was Gandhi's infatuation for them......The Congress, which
had boasted of its nationalism and socialism, secretly accepted
Pakistan and abjectly surrendered to
Jinnah. India was vivisected and one-third of the Indian territory
became foreign land to us... This is what Gandhiji had achieved after
30 years of undisputed dictatorship, and this is what Congress party
calls 'freedom'...
....One of the conditions imposed by Gandhiji for his breaking of the
fast unto death related to the mosques in Delhi occupied by Hindu
refugees. But when Hindus in Pakistan were subjected to violent
attacks he did not so much as utter a single word to protest and
censure the Pakistan government...
Gandhi is being referred to as the Father of the Nation. But if that
is so, he had failed his paternal duty inasmuch as he has acted very
treacherously to the nation by his consenting to the partitioning of
it... The people of this country were eager and vehement in their
opposition to Pakistan. But Gandhiji played false with the people...
....I shall be totally ruined, and the only thing I could expect from
the people would be nothing but hatred... if I were to kill Gandhiji.
But at the same time, I felt that Indian politics in the absence of
Gandhiji would surely be proved practical, able to retaliate, and be
powerful with armed forces. No doubt, my own future would be totally
ruined, but the nation would be saved from the inroads of
Pakistan......I do say that my shots were fired at the person whose
policy and action had brought rack and ruin and destruction to
millions of Hindus... There was no legal machinery by which such an
offender could be brought to book, and for this reason I fired those
fatal shots...
...I do not desire any mercy to be shown to me... I did fire shots at
Gandhiji in open daylight. I did not make any attempt to run away; in
fact I never entertained any idea of running away. I did not try to
shoot myself... for, it was my ardent desire to give vent to my
thoughts in an open Court. My confidence about the moral side of my
action has not been shaken even by the criticism levelled of against
it on all sides. I have no doubt, honest writers of history will weigh
my act and find the true value thereof some day in future. "
Read it....and will read it over and over again
I am not quite sure about this, but I will put up more of my views once I finish reading "The life of Mahatma Gandhi" by Louis Fischer...there are too many things that I dont know...
Godse's speech I feel, was genuine....but it was just the way he felt ..... and he misjudged and misunderstood it.In this speech,he spells out the things the Muslim community did...all the massacres and murders.He was blind towards what we Hindus did. He talks about Ram and Krishna...they were not perfect too!He did only what he thought was right. I dont know whether I will be killed for this but Godse ended two precious lives....one of Gandhi and one of a probable peaceful India...
A cold face towards another cold face brings out hatredness...one needs to be brave and patient enough to give another cheek when someone slaps......If I hate you and you hate me, where is the world going to end?? God bless Godse's soul with truth and wisdom.
I can see my "13 year old" self in Godse's words.I have grown out of it...On a lighter note,Godse should have waited for a few years...time would change his perspective too!
100% I am.....Manu,Abha[his other great nephew's wife] and Gandhi would wake up everyday by 4:00 AM for a prayer service!!
Nupur,
Consider reading any of his biographies when you are free.. :)
Well said Utkarsh! I read the doc.. Gud to see ppl like you actually giving thought to such issues..
Utkarsh,
I strongly disagree......especially the last part of the write up...will put up a post on it.....
But before that, it was three bullets and Jinnah never proposed to be India's prime minister.....it was Gandhi's idea to make Jinnah the prime minister!!
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