We see the ideology that believes in violence and hate and segregation has earned rich dividends by their campaign of hate. They’re not bothered about what it does to the fabric of the nation, but they’re only doing it for their electoral gains and their lust for power.
TUSHAR ARUN GANDHI is an Indian author and son of Arun Manilal Gandhi, thus great-grandson of Mahatma Gandhi. In March 2005, he led the 75th anniversary of the Dandi March. From 2007 to 2012, he was the Goodwill Ambassador of CISRI-ISP Intergovernmental Institution for the use of Micro-algae Spirulina Against Malnutrition. He established the Mahatma Gandhi Foundation. In 2018 he played a significant role in petitioning Supreme Court of India to direct States and Union Territories to comply with its orders to curb cow-vigilante lynch mobs. In 2019 he became Director of Gandhi Research Foundation in Jalgaon, Maharashtra. In 2023, he was appointed Ambassador for “Return to Palestine”. Tushar in his book Let’s Kill Gandhi, blamed Brahmins in general for assassinating Mahatma Gandhi. In an interview with MOHD NAUSHAD KHAN, he said, India is unfortunately being pushed back to the time of 1945-46 when the politics of hate was played out in India and we see what it resulted in, in 1947-48.
What’s your reading of the present atmosphere in the country, keeping in mind the January 22 event? People have argued that it was less religious but more political. Some have also claimed the body of India got freedom in 1947 but the soul on January 22?
I think it’s weird. India is unfortunately being pushed back to the time of 1945-46 when the politics of hate was played out in India and we know what it resulted in, in 1947-48. Unfortunately, we are again making the same mistake in recent times. We see the ideology that believes in violence and hate and segregation has earned rich dividends by their campaign of hate. They’re not bothered about what it does to the fabric of the nation, but they’re only doing it for their electoral gains and their lust for power. And it’s dangerous. We are living through dangerous times because hearts are being divided, it’s not just a division of territories or landmasses but this time it is the division of hearts and that is very dangerous for the existence and well-being of India, the nation that is founded and visualised for it.
How would you like to recall the whole Babri Masjid issue, keeping in mind what has happened on January 22?
The whole Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid issue has to be understood in the context of not only people’s religious fervour but also according to the law of the land. And unfortunately, in the whole issue, the law of the land doesn’t seem to have been given any importance. What happened or what was done on the 22nd was an election campaign of the Hindutva politics and there was no religiosity in it. Unfortunately, they have succeeded in creating the unnecessary fanaticism in Hindus and so they are getting away with it. But anybody who has any ability to discern will know that it was just a political gimmick to promote the image of an individual, not even ideology, not even a party. It was just individual public relation exercise for the Prime Minister.
Many people say that apart from Hindu-Muslim divide, the January 22 event has also created a rift among the Hindu community because four Shankarcharyas kept themselves from the event. Your comments?
You must understand that it’s only now that we claim a unified Hindu identity. We have never been that way. We have always been a divided lot, whether it is the Shaivites and Vaishnavites divisions, whether it is the divisions based on caste and other things. The claim that there was a homogeneous Hindu community and identity is false. And that’s why we continue to see the inherent divisions, injustices and violence between castes and communities within the Hindu fold itself.
Today is the Republic Day. Has India lived on the expectation of our Constitution or would it be proper to say that India has failed it?
Initially, we did. In the first four decades of India’s nationhood, we did live by the spirit of the Constitution. And then it started being diluted for political gains. And today we see that it is just merely a document and it doesn’t seem to have any meaning either in the ruling of the country or in the allegiance to the Constitution by the Indian public. We see it’s being eroded. We see that neither the rights uniformly being granted nor the duties being uniformly performed.
How do you think Mahatma Gandhi would have reacted to the present atmosphere we are in?
He would have been very disappointed. He was disappointed in the last four years of his life as India moved towards Independence. He saw that India was moving away from his ideology and what he had dreamt for the country. And he would have accepted the fact that somewhere down the line he had failed in creating the kind of ideal nation, the kind of Ram Rajya that he had visualized in this country – an inclusive, just and equal Ram Rajya. Today we see a very corrupted and very hate-filled form of Ram Rajya that is being forced on India. So, he would have been a very disappointed person after seeing all that is happening today.
In 2018, on your petition, the Supreme Court had to direct States and Union Territories to comply with its orders to curb cow-vigilante lynch mobs. Are you satisfied with the way it has been implemented over the years?
There is always a lacuna in the orders and their implementation because implementation is always dependent on the political will. I’m not satisfied by how States have very lackadaisically responded to the Supreme Court orders and it’s not a new thing. There have been many orders of the Supreme Court that languish, and even the Supreme Court and the Justices have said that they have passed many orders, but they see the politicians and the administration do not implement them in the manner in which they ordered. And unfortunately, the Supreme Court finds itself powerless even in this order of the mob lynching. I’m sure the Supreme Court is aware that the states have not followed it in the spirit of the order, not even in the letter of the order. But they have so many other things to do and look into and it becomes impossible for them to continuously monitor all the orders they passed have been implemented.
In 2023, you were appointed Ambassador for Return to Palestine. What do you have to say now after more than 100 days of war in Gaza?
It’s very sad and tragic that the aggression that Israel is showing, which is far beyond the excuse that they have made up for this aggression, and it is being allowed to do whatever it likes. The so-called superpowers are colluding with Israel in denying justice and rights to the people of Palestine. It is very dangerous for World Peace.
So how do you see India’s role in that direction because India has been in dilly-dallying mode on support to the Palestinian cause?
Yes, it has been a mark of the present regime’s foreign policy. It seems like a riderless ship and also is very transparently opportunistic. Unfortunately, like in everything, be it the Palestinian cause or any other, India has completely abandoned the ethical approach that used to be the hallmark of Indian policies, whether domestic or international. Now it seems it is on the whim of an individual and that is where we see the limitations of that individual in dilly-dallying our policies.
You filed a PIL in Supreme Court in the Muzaffarnagar student slapping case. What is the latest development in that case?
I think the Supreme Court has been monitoring it. The last I heard was that the child was admitted to a school, but a lot of things still need to be done. And also, the Tata Institute of Social Sciences have sent a team according to the court’s order to ensure that the child’s rights and all the children who were traumatized by the teacher’s actions are provided proper counsel and things. And it’s ongoing, and we’re still awaiting the final verdict.
