As India moves closer to celebrating the 150th birth anniversary of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, father of the nation, on October 2, 2019, HT will focus on the ground reports from places associated with him including Champaran and Dandi, opinions and iconic photographs of the man who led the nation’s freedom movement with non-violence as his primary weapon.
The series starts from September 16 and will continue till October 2. Those who have joined hands with HT to commemorate the contributions of the tallest figure in India’s Independence movement include Mahatma Gandhi’s grandsons and a great granddaughter and some of world’s pre-eminent Gandhi scholars.
Here is a guide to the HT articles from September 16 to October 2:
16 September : Gandhi in Dandi
HT retraces the footsteps of the Sabarmati Ashramites, led by MK Gandhi, who undertook a 385.6-km long trek from Sabarmati to Dandi, a coastal village, in 1930, intent on breaking the iniquitous salt law, and resisting the imperial British government
17 September: A family man
A look at Kasturba Gandhi, whose jewellery provided the seed money that set MK Gandhi on the journey of his legal career
18 September: A student in London
From joining the Vegetarian Society, to imbibing the value of the rule of the law, Gandhi never quite left his love for London behind. And the city loves him back, even today.
19 September: Gandhi in the South
Southern India was one of the nodes of the anti-untouchability movement led by MK Gandhi after he returned to India, but the Tamils revered him from his South Africa days
20 September: Gandhi, left, right, centre
What do the Indian Communists and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh think of MK Gandhi today
21 September: The 12 Apostles
From Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan and Vallabhbhai Patel to Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay and Jayaprakash Narayan, the men and women who carried Gandhi’s message of pluralism, equality and self-reliance forward
22 September: Gandhi’s Bombay
The city of Bombay (now Mumbai) has a close connection with MK Gandhi. Not only did he take a stab at being a law officer in the high court, he also returned to the city several times in the course of the freedom struggle, sometimes to recover his health. Even today, his imprint can be found here
23 September: Gandhi first foray
Gandhi launched his first satyagraha in Bihar’s Champaran in 1917, to fight for the rights of the oppressed indigo farmers. HT revisits the state
24 September: Learning to be Gandhi
Across the country, post-graduate students assiduously attend Gandhi Studies courses in a bid to understand the philosophy and teachings of the Mahatma
25 September: Gandhi in the Capital
Gandhi’s presence in Delhi can be found in the unlikeliest of places, from a small house tucked away in a New Delhi street to the sites that masqueraded as South Africa where the 1982 film, Gandhi, was shot. A re-look at this city
26 September: Cultural touch
From artists to musicians, Gandhi influenced the arts in various ways, but it was perhaps the photograph that best found a consonance with the Mahatma — one that he reciprocated
27 September: Gandhi and the women’s movement
Swaraj, or self-rule, was an important element of MK Gandhi’s philosophy. Its impact on the women’s movement in later decades was significant
28 September: The South Africa story
MK Gandhi in South Africa
Contemporary Johannesburg has raised issues with Gandhi’s allegedly racist remarks from his youth, but his reformation and political activism cannot be countermanded
29 September: A man named Gandhi
In Tamil Nadu, many children are named after men of science and philosophy instead of the gods. Gandhi is a favourite. HT meets a few such people, to see how they’re living up to the name
30 September: Bharat Darshan
Gandhi returned to ndia in January 1915. However, a promise to Gopalkrishna Gokhale meant that he toured India for most part of that year, often in third class railway compartments
01 October: Gandhi and Ambedkar
BR Ambedkar
We examine the Poona Pact of 1932 and its impact on Dalits today to understand MK Gandhi’s role in the political representation of Scheduled Caste communities
02 October: Biographer’s journey
What it took to pore over reams of writings of and by MK Gandhi, a prolific writer and journalist
Interview with Tara Bhattacharjee: Gandhi’s granddaughter, a wellknown Delhiite, speaks to HT about her father, Devadas Gandhi, a former editor of this paper, and MK Gandhi’s legacy
Gandhi’s India: The difference between religion and nationalism was clear to MK Gandhi, and he strove to explain it to his detractors throughout his life
Influencing the West and the East: Though he never visited the United States, Mahatma Gandhi’s methods and philosophy had a profound impact on the Civil Rights movement in the US. His influence extended across fields, from the environment and farming to non-violent social movements around the world. Unlike most world leaders, Gandhi did not accrue to himself the glory or authority, but spread it through individuals, who did his work long after he was gone.
First Published:
Sep 16, 2019 13:30 IST
Source: HindustanTimes