Saint Of Sabarmati Is Irreplaceable, India Had One Mahatma & There Cannot Be A Second

By D N Singh  On a day like Holi the father of the nation had given a message to the world that, it's an occasion when 'we must rise above the barriers of cast, religion and usher in goodwill through amity and equality'. But does that really happen? Divisive trend has become an order of the present which thousand holis cannot bridge .  Since last few years the name, Mahatma Gandhi, has seemingly, regained its currency in the political circles. Which, surprisingly, had lost its coinage for long.  As it appears, the name of the Mahatma Gandhi had, at one time, lost its legitimate place in the crowd of other Gandhis. Some kept him in the statues and some had even had the temerity to dub his action as nothing more than an instrument of politics which allegedly led to the division of India! Now suddenly there is a rat race among all the political parties to glorify the saint of Sabarmati and each one in politics trying to climb up in the ladder by talking Gandhian philosophy and feel holier than thou. But in India, there was one Bapu or Mahatma Gandhi, and there shall never be a second Mahatma. It is as simple as that, is what one can get from a little knowledge on Gandhi.         Gandhi was, in fact, always appeared to be a self judger and was much more above vanity, be it in public or personal life. Neither he was moved by accolades nor any criticism made him reactive. To imagine, even, that someone from the present day lot ‘netas’ can reach the same level of sainthood, as Gandhi, can be utopian. It was never within the premises of any falsehood that could help him to shake the citadel of an empire so big as the British. Accepting a life that he lived, sitting semi-naked, weaving and praying to lead a movement  as big as in India, against the then mightiest in the world, surely streamed out of a consciousness that was within him. Incidentally, Gandhi was close to politicians later but then it would have cost him a great amount of compromise with his own principles. But he never wore the garb of a politician. He Was A Near-Saint Today’s politics is all about opportunity and which has become cyclic . Coercion and lies could never be his stuff behind his movement and from South Africa to India it had remained a kind of pilgrimage that his detractors were most frustrated with. His principles were diametrically opposite to what the politicians subsequently made this profession to be. An inseparable blend of pretension and lies and, miles and miles away from anything called spiritual. He was a very good lawyer and would have made himself a brilliant one. He had ample scope to climb up the ladder to power though politics. His Nationalism Was Different  Mahatma’s nationalist perception was way apart than today. Sitting on a mat and dreaming of home spun clothes to wear and reciting ‘Raghupati Raghava Raja Ram, Patitapaban Sita Ram ‘ was aimed at the good and emancipation of the populace where starving and backwardness were common. Silent Conqueror  The same Britishers who had looked upon him as a man of medievalist frame of mind, found in him the greatest virtue to erect his statue in UK as a mark of respect for a silent conqueror. About the Author: DN Singh is a Bhubaneswar-based senior journalist. DISCLAIMER This is the personal opinion of the author. The views expressed in this write up have nothing to do with the www.prameyanews.com