Rajmohan Gandhi, author, historian and grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, said here on Saturday that the idea of domination and supremacy has gained currency in the modern world including in India where the notion of equality was under threat.
He was speaking at a seminar on Media and Democracy organised by Gandhi Vichara Parishat and the Institute of Gandhian Studies, University of Mysore.
Mr. Rajmohan Gandhi said though the world never practised the concepts of equality, freedom of speech and fraternity, it respected the notions. But since the last 10 or 15 years, this was being supplanted by the idea of supremacy and even the idea of democracy was being challenged. “While some groups argue that America belongs to the whites, another group in India says the country belonged to the Hindus.”
However, Mahatma Gandhi believed and advocated that India belongs to everyone be they Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, Sikhs, atheists, or agnostics rationalists and everyone had the right to follow the religion of their choice. Mr. Rajmohan Gandhi said people should choose to follow Mahatma Gandhi not by worshipping him as God but to obey their conscience and stand up for truth just as he (Mahatma Gandhi) did.
Though Gandhiji loved slogans such as “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 would be free to follow the religion they want and there would be no domination or coercion of any kind, said Mr. Rajmohan Gandhi alluding to the present day context.
He said dissent was another trait of Mahatma Gandhi that should be imbibed by the people to defend the right to criticise. In the course of his talk Mr. Rajmohan Gandhi said the love for equality and justice was much deep rooted in south India and expressed the hope that it would give the lead and remind the rest of the country that equality and liberty are the goals and not domination.
