The idea of domination and supremacy has gained currency in the modern world, including in India, and the notion of equality is under threat, according to author and historian Rajmohan Gandhi.
He was speaking at a seminar in Mysuru on Friday on ‘Media and Democracy’, organised by Gandhi Vichara Parishat and the Institute of Gandhian Studies, University of Mysore.
He said though the world never practised the concepts of equality, freedom of speech and fraternity, it has respected them. “But in the past 10 or 15 years, this has been supplanted by the idea of supremacy, and even the idea of democracy is being challenged. While some groups argue that America belongs to the Whites, another group in India says the country belongs to the Hindus,” said Mr. Rajmohan Gandhi.
However, he said, Mahatma Gandhi believed and advocated the idea that India belonged to everyone, irrespective of whether they were Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, Sikh, atheist, agnostic, or rationalist. Mr. Rajmohan Gandhi said people should choose to follow Mahatma Gandhi, not by worshipping him as a god but by obeying their conscience and standing up for truth.
Though the Mahatma loved slogans like “Vande Mataram” and “Jai Hind”, and loved Lord Ram, he had made it clear that he would not chant or raise them under duress. “It was Mahatma Gandhi’s notion that in India, everyone should be free to follow the religion they wanted,” said Mr. Rajmohan Gandhi.
