Gandhi Remains Central To Modi바카라�s Projection Of India As Land Of Sages And Thinkers Despite Internal Contradictions

In recent years, Gandhi바카라�s assassin Nathuram Godse has been publicly praised by Bharatiya Janata Party바카라�s (BJP) second-rung leaders, including Union minister Giriraj Singh and firebrand MP Sadhvi Pragya Singh. 

None of this, however, has stopped Prime Minister Narendra Modi from invoking Gandhi regularly on the world stage. As India바카라�s most recognisable name and one of the world바카라�s most admired persons, Gandhi has been used as a symbol by successive Prime Ministers of India to project his ideas of pacifism as a political weapon. Modi has often evoked Gandhi in his speeches abroad despite the fact that his party may not be on the same page. Gandhi is too big an icon to be abandoned.

Modi has delivered several speeches on Gandhi바카라�s life and legacy. 

바카라�Gandhiji was Indian, but he belonged not just to India. Today, this platform is a living example of this. The people whom Gandhi ji never met were also greatly influenced by his life. Whether it was Martin Luther King Jr or Nelson Mandela, the basis of their ideas was Mahatma Gandhi and Gandhi ji바카라�s vision,바카라� said Modi in 2019 when the United Nations (UN) marked 150 years of Gandhi바카라�s birth.

He further said, 바카라�Gandhi ji never tried to make an impact in his life, but his life became the cause of inspiration. Today, we live in the era of 바카라�how to impress바카라� but Gandhi ji바카라�s vision was 바카라�how to inspire바카라�. Friends, this commitment to principles drew Gandhi바카라�s attention toward seven distortions that everyone should be aware of and all these seven things are still relevant and will be relevant in the times to come.

바카라�Those seven principles are: wealth without work, pleasure without consciousness, knowledge without character, business without ethics, science without humanity, religion without sacrifice, and politics without principle.바카라�

Gandhi바카라�s brutal assassination has given him the added glow of a martyr for the cause of peace and religious harmony. Gandhi, the prophet of non-violence, introduced satyagraha as a powerful weapon in political movements worldwide. He was able to take on the mighty British Empire without resorting to violence, though the irony is that the Partition led to one of the worst blood-letting in recent history.

Gandhi바카라�s pacifist ideas not only captured the imagination of the Indian masses but reverberated across the world. In a world where might is right, Gandhi introduced a powerful idea of morality and showed how a people can rise without violence to vanquish a mighty empire. From Martin Luther King Jr, the American civil rights leader, to South Africa바카라�s anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela, all looked up to Gandhi for inspiration and publicly acknowledged that they had tried to take a leaf from the Mahatma바카라�s book of non-violent resistance. Across the world from the African continent to Europe and Asia, leaders have been inspired by Gandhi바카라�s satyagraha as a weapon against oppression.

American academic, non-violence educator, mentor, meditator, and peace activist Michael N Nagler describes Satyagraha as 바카라�clinging to the truth that we are all one under the skin, that there is no such thing as a 바카라�win/lose바카라� confrontation because all our important interests are the same, that consciously or not every single person wants unity and peace with every other.바카라�

Satyagraha means 바카라�truth force바카라�, 바카라�soul force바카라�, or as Martin Luther King Jr would call it, 바카라�love in action바카라�. Satyagraha has often been defined as the philosophy of non-violent resistance.

How relevant is Gandhi today? Some would say more than ever before considering that in the modern inter-connected world, war affects everyone. The Ukraine War is a prime example of how grain, fertilisers, and gas supplies have affected people across the world. Now more than ever before, global leaders need to hear Gandhi바카라�s words of pacifism and non-violence that can be more powerful than guns and tanks.

Asked about the relevance of Gandhi, former diplomat Gurjit Singh says, 바카라�I don바카라�t know about relevance, but like we got International Day of Yoga in 2014, and, earlier in 2005, we had got the UN to pass October 2 as International Day of Non-Violence. Embassies marked it with gusto. I don바카라�t know the current status, but the message of peace and non-violence was always appreciated by the international community.바카라�

Gandhi바카라�s ahimsa and satyagraha play well into Modi바카라�s projection of India as an ancient land of sages and thinkers. This peaceful non-violent country has much to offer to the world. It is a spiritual land from where three great religions 바카라�Buddhism, Jainism, and Hinduism바카라� were born.

Gandhi-related activities are often a part of Modi바카라�s programmes abroad. In a visit to Rome in 2021, he tweeted: 바카라�In Rome, I had the opportunity to pay homage to Mahatma Gandhi, whose ideals give courage and inspiration to millions globally.바카라�  

Again, in Hiroshima in July, where he was to attend the G7 outreach meeting, Modi unveiled a bust of Gandhi. Hiroshima, the place where the United States dropped an atomic bomb just before World War II ended, was a fit place to have a bust for the man who preached non-violence all his life.  

In June this year, while addressing the joint session of the US Congress, Modi spoke of Gandhi.  The G20 Summit in Delhi ended with a visit to Raj Ghat by world leaders attending the summit.

Where Modi stands on the debate on Gandhi is not known. It is also a fact that there is a thundering silence over efforts by some BJP leaders to praise Godse, none of them have been publicly rebuked by either the PM or BJP brass. But unlike Nehru, Gandhi바카라�s international status ensures that he is not relegated to the dustbin of history.