Post-independent India simply continued with Mahatma Gandhi as till this date, there is no better way to address the man - MohanDas KarmaChand Gandhi.
Mahatma, the prefix popularly used for Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, was not offered to him as reward or a government commendation. Gandhi was called Mahatma because of what he stood for, even during the British rule. Post-independent India simply continued with Mahatma Gandhi as till this date, there is no better way to address the man - Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi.
Eulogies have been written, his thoughts have been documented in millions of pages, his contribution to the freedom struggle, written in thousands of pages. World over his thoughts and ideology has inspired a generation of leaders like Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela and so on to strive for a human dignity and value of life. Gandhi stood out not just as a name, but as a cult, a philosophy, a thought, an ideology. When we look back today, possible the man, the Mahatma can be faulted for many of his decisions, many of his choices, many of his actions. But then posterity and hindsight always have an upper hand when juxtaposed with the Present, as it happened then.
We, the post truth Indians, may fault the Mahatma as much as we may today, but can anyone of us Indians ever wish him the death that he died. Being shot in cold blood on a cold Delhi morning as he walked for his prayers, is not what he merited. An old frail man, who had ceaselessly worked for an independent India, did he deserve to die at the hands of his own countryman - a man who was born of the same soil. I doubt, whether his staunchest of the critiques would ever agree to the death, that Mahatma got. The world mourned him - India wept & wallowed at the loss of her beloved son - the countrymen lost a father figure. But today after 72 years of his death, on the day when the Great Son Of India was born, we the post truth Indians celebrate his assassin - Nath Ram Godse. Can you beat that.
Sample this:
Pankhudi
No 1 trending Only retweet @Im_pankh #नाथूराम_गोडसे_जिंदाबाद
Ashutosh Singhविक्की
#नाथूराम_गोडसे_जिंदाबाद #gandhijayanthi happy birthday Dude. He says love is trash bitches need cash.
Dharam B
आपका अपने रोल मॉडल कौन है..??#नाथूराम_गोडसे_जिंदाबाद Retweet For Nathuram Godse Like For Gandhi
@कुंभमेला 2021
#नाथूराम_गोडसे_जिंदाबाद Traitor Gandhi conspired against Subhas Chandra Bose in favour of Nehru Sardar Patel in favour of Nehru Swami Shraddhanand in favour Rashid, a murderer Hindus in favour of Muslims #godse #MahatmaGandhi #2ndOctober #gandhijayanthi2020
These were the tweets which are trending in the morning. Until some bigger forces realised that this trend would derail the image of the country. But the question runs deeper into the psychology of the blind trail that is being followed by offsprings of post truth.
Who are these IT cell inspired netizens who have come to believe that celebrating a murderer is the 'right' thing to do. Who has convinced these impressionable minds that Mahatma Gandhi was anti-Hindu and pro-Muslim. Who are these devil workshops who are tailoring a narrative that is uproots the ethos of India. Who are these people?
How do they have the numerical strength to ram roll their misconstrued version of debunked history into the mainstream and gradually but effectively change the mindset of common man. Clearly, these are not some roadside organisations, associations or assembly of people who are doing the unthinkable. Its a concerted efforts of the few who wish to demolish the basic foundations of India.
Three generation of liberated Indians have been born in Independent India. While the generation born during independence struggle or that which was born just after independence is deeply rooted in the national ideology, the role of luminaries during our struggle for independence. Its the third generation born post 1990, which has come to take independence as granted fact. It is this generation which tended to experiment with the truth. And with he advent of post truth, this generation began questioning the very essence of India. It questioned a composite & secular India. It raised objections to minority rights. And it boxed out the notion of peaceful coexistence.
And to attain all this, this generation next, took to demolishing the icons, who stood for the essence of India. And who better than to demolish Gandhi and resurrect his murderer, Nathu Ram Godse.
Mind you, Nathu Ram Godse is not a thought or an ideology or even a philosophy - Nathu Ram Godse is amplification of cold blooded murder / it’s destruction of Ram Rajya / it’s demolition of the concept of a unified India. And when this destruction gains ground amongst the so called youth of the nation, its the death bell of the nation at large. Denouncing & debunking Gandhi today, this multitude of people have unleashed a monster of unimaginable proportions.
Popularisation of Godse stand for a radicalised India, an intolerant India, a slayer India, a killer India. And if this thought is being propagated on social media platforms, then those platforms are equally responsible for tearing apart of Indian social fabric. Be it Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp, Telegram or any other form of social media - none of these can escape their core responsibility of custodians of moral values. All these platforms are equally responsible for the demonising content as are the content creators. Its the combined impact of both the content creator and the platform, that today we see, Nathu Ram Godse trending in Mahatma Gandhi’s India.
(Writer of the article, Ajay Kumar, is Consulting Editor, India TV)
(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. The opinions do not reflect the views of India TV)
