(October1869- October 2019)
By Zile Singh
“Live as if you were to die tomorrow.
Learn as if you were to live forever.” – Mahatma Gandhi.
India is celebrating 150th Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi popularly called as Mahatma Gandhi or Bapu was born on October 2, 1869, at Porbandar in Gujrat. He was the fourth and last son from his father’s fourth and last marriage. His mother, Putlibai (born 1839) was 17 years younger than his father Karamchand (born 1822). Gandhiji was a multi-faceted personality. His years at Inner Temple, London, studying Law, played a crucial role in shaping his life. He was at the forefront of the Indian Freedom Movement. His non-violent struggle (Satyagraha) for Indian independence after his return from South Africa spans from 1915 to 1948. He has left an indelible mark on Indian political, economic, social and religious life. After independence he refused to take any post of profit in the government. He was a man of strong principles but meagre means. He believed that “Means justify the end” and not the other way around that “End justifies the means”. He said, “An eye for an eye will only make the whole world blind.”
On August 15, 1947, when the Tri-colour was being hoisted by Jawaharlal Nehru at Red Fort, Delhi, Gandhi was camping in Calcutta for Hindu-Muslim unity. Gandhi saw August 15, not as Independence but as Partition Day. About the Hindu-Muslim riots, Lord Mountbatten said, “ …in Punjab we have fifty-five thousand soldiers and large scale rioting on our hands…in Bengal our forces consist of one man and there is no rioting.”
On January 30, 1948, in the evening, on his way to a prayer meeting at Birla Mandir in New Delhi, Nathuram Godse, a Hindu fanatic first touched Gandhi’s feet and then shot him thrice in the chest at point- blank range. The crowd which was following the Mahatma deluded into a pale of uncertainty they had witnessed that day because the thread of the curtains of truth was torn to pieces before their eyes. In his dim and blurred sight, Gandhi would have invoked “Mother India” he had ever kept throned in the sacred shrine of his heart and would have said, “O Mother India, the Mighty British Empire could not defeat me, but one of my own brothers snatched my life.” Mother India whispered into his ears, “You have won the combat. I have come to crown you with a crown of victory. From now on, you will remain forever The Apostle of Peace and Non-violence.” The Father of the Nation (his honorific) breathed his last after uttering “Hey Ram” with his folded hands, at the age of 78. Prior to this Gandhi observed fast for five days in Delhi for communal unity and harmony. In January 1942, Gandhiji informed the Congress Working Committee that Jawaharlal Nehru was his political heir. Sardar Patel agreed reluctantly. Mr. Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of newly independent India, on hearing his sad demise said, “The light has gone out of our lives and there is darkness everywhere.” Gandhi’s Samadhi at Raj Ghat, on the bank of river Yamuna in New Delhi bears the epigraph in Devanagri “Hey Ram”.
Persons accused of plotting Gandhi’s assassination were tried by a Special Court created in the historic Red Fort in Delhi. All except Veer Savarkar were found guilty. Five were given life sentences. Nathuram Godse and Narayan Apte were given death sentences: “To be hanged by the neck till dead.”
Throughout his life, Mahatma Gandhi practised and preached non-violence. He knew that he was taking a risk by observing long fasts and even fast-unto-death several times. Some of his speeches and writings relate to death. Here is an extract from his writings which Gandhi wrote on the death of his 17- year old grandson Rasiklal, “Truly speaking, death is God’s eternal blessing. The body which is used up falls and the bird within it flies away. So long as the bird does not die, the question of grief does not arise.” Many years before his death, Gandhi had already pronounced a verdict on his would-be assassin, “If someone were to shoot me in the belief that he was getting rid of a rascal, he would kill not the real Gandhi, but the one that appeared to him a rascal.”
In 1908, while in South Africa his wife Kasturba fell ill. Gandhi was so obsessed with Satyagrah that he paid little attention to his family and personal life. In a letter dated November 9, 1908, he wrote to his wife, “Beloved Kastur, …..I love you so dearly that even if you are dead, you will be alive to me. Your soul is deathless. I repeat what I have frequently told you and assure you that if you succumb to your illness, I will not marry again. If you die, your death will be a sacrifice to the cause of Satyagraha ….. Mohan Das.”
“Generations to come, it may well be, will scarce believe that such a man as this one ever in flesh and blood walked upon this Earth.” – Albert Einstein
Mr. Zile Singh is much respected Link Columnist, writer, a Vipassana Meditator and has a Post-Graduate Diploma in Human Rights. He can be reached at [email protected]
