Mahatma Gandhi exposed the hypocrisy of his followers on his 140th
birth anniversary. His name has become a brand name for simplicity,
honesty, empowerment of the poor and the villages, dignity of man and
dignity of labour, truth and non-violence. However, his followers use
his name for other than what he stood for. He has become an icon of
worship, not to be followed but to be used to further their own
interest.
A descendent of Gandhiji sells his name to a luxury fountain pen
manufacturer to get money for his private foundation, of course, named
after the Mahatma. A minister twitters that there should not be a
holiday on Mahatma's birthday, immediately after coming from a luxury
hotel where he was waiting for his bungalow to be ready. The head of
the country goes with an entourage of 100 people to visit his birth
place and places of pilgrimage when the country is under a drought and
the government is supposed to be on an austerity drive.( Later, it is
clarified that the expenditure by the entourage would not be spent by
the government.) To top it all, the central government has named the
NREGA ( National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme) after him where
thousands of crore of rupees are being spent to assure 100 days of
work in a year which has been summed up by a recent headline in a
newspaper, " Centre's job plan falls prey to corruption, 40% of funds
siphoned off". It appears that Gandhiji has been made an accomplice in
their game of money and power.
The Mahatma stood for the empowerment of the poor (sarvodaya – welfare
of all and anthyodaya – unto the last) and self-reliant villages.
After 62 years of independence, majority of villages have no
electricity, no roads, no primary schools, no primary health-care
centres, no water for agriculture or for drinking purpose, women and
children have to walk long distances for a few hours to fetch water,
and no employment. India's villages have 60 percent of the population
and produce 18 to 20 percent of GDP – one can imagine the poverty in
the country. Villagers flock to the cities in search of work and stay
in slums. People are being given fish instead of being trained in
fishing. People are being made dependent on the powers-that-be with
doles and subsidies, even TV sets, not independent with vocational
education and training to stand on their own legs. Is this Gandhiji's
India ?
October 6,2009.
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