Latest news with #Gandhiji
Hans India
19-07-2025
- Politics
- Hans India
BJD holds silent protest, seeks justice for student
Bhubaneswar: TheOpposition Biju Janata Dal (BJD) on Friday staged a silent protest at Janata Maidan under the statue of Mahatma Gandhi in Bhubaneswar, demanding justice for the girl student of Fakir Mohan Autonomous College in Balasore, who died after self-immolation over alleged sexual harassment by one of faculty members and college authorities' apathy. Hundreds of BJD workers, leaders and women activists gathered in silent protest, with black cloths tied around their mouths, holding placards and raising slogans seeking accountability and action against those responsible for the tragic incident at FM College. The party reiterated its demand for a judicial probe into the tragic death of the victim girl student of FM College and the resignation of the State Higher Education Minister for failing to help the victim. The party accused the BJP-led Union government and its representatives in the State of politicising the issue and diverting attention from the core injustice faced by the the gathering, BJD leaders said, 'We are here under the statue of Mahatma Gandhi to protest peacefully. Gandhiji taught us the power of non-violent resistance.' The protesters alleged that the BJP and its MPs have attempted to distort the narrative, misguiding the public while ignoring the emotional and social trauma that led the young girl to take the extreme step. 'This is not just about one college or one girl; it's about the systemic failure. Justice delayed is justice denied,' they added. The BJD also strongly condemned the police action during earlier protests, claiming that rubber bullets, water cannons and tear gas shells were used against peaceful protesters. 'If our daughters had been in that crowd, what would have happened to them? Such brutality is unacceptable,' a leader said. The party demanded strict action against those responsible for the girl's death and the officials involved in the alleged police excesses. 'We will continue our democratic fight until justice is served,' the leaders said.
Hindustan Times
08-07-2025
- General
- Hindustan Times
NIN to establish ‘Living Gandhi Memorial' at Nisarg Gram
In a first-of-its-kind tribute to Mahatma Gandhi, the National Institute of Naturopathy (NIN), Pune, will establish a 'Living Gandhi Memorial' at Nisarg Gram. What makes the memorial 'living' is its aim to embody Gandhi's philosophy through action, encouraging people to imbibe his values—particularly his emphasis on naturopathy and self-reliance—in their daily lives. What also makes the memorial 'living' is its strong emphasis on real-world applications. A living laboratory will offer hands-on training in organic farming, Khadi production, natural building techniques, community health practices, and non-violent communication—efforts aimed at making Gandhian thought relevant in a contemporary context. Spread across 5,000 square yards, the memorial will be a dynamic space for learning, reflection, and practice; and will feature a museum, and facilities for immersive workshops and training. Tenders for the project have been awarded, and work is set to begin soon, officials said. The museum will house rare letters, photographs, and Gandhi's writings as well as interactive displays to engage visitors across all age groups. (HT) One of the key features of the memorial will be the Mahatma Gandhi-Dr Dinshaw Mehta tunnel; a specially designed light-and-sound experience using artificial intelligence (AI) to recreate the voices of Gandhi and his close associate, Mehta. There will be a narration of milestones from Gandhi's life, the freedom struggle, and his naturopathy practice as part of this experience. Professor Dr K Satyalakshmi, director, NIN, said, 'We want to bring Gandhi alive through technology. A visitor walking through the tunnel should emerge with a deeper understanding of Gandhiji's values and his naturopathy principles. Behind the museum, we will also have a 'Gandhi Prerna Sthal' with 11 large pillars, each inscribed with one of his vows.' The museum will house rare letters, photographs, and Gandhi's writings as well as interactive displays to engage visitors across all age groups. It will highlight how Gandhi's non-violent philosophy influenced global figures such as Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela, and others. Dr Naina Athalye, coordinator of the 'Gandhi Fellowship Programme' at NIN, said, 'Gandhiji's teachings are more relevant now than ever. Health must be understood not as disease treatment but as a state of wellbeing. Peace and harmony must be our natural way of life. As Gandhiji said, 'Be the change you want to see in the world' and remember, 'There is enough for everyone's need, but not for everyone's greed'.' The memorial will also promote Gandhi's 18 Constructive Programmes, which he envisioned as the building blocks of a self-reliant and equitable India. These include promotion of Khadi, communal harmony, removal of untouchability, village industries, sanitation, women's empowerment, economic equality, and revival of traditional health systems like naturopathy. A Centre for Excellence will offer interdisciplinary courses and certificate programmes aimed at students, educators, professionals, and social workers committed to sustainability, social justice, and Gandhian thought.
Hans India
05-07-2025
- Politics
- Hans India
TG on Cong's radar for exploitation after HP, KA: BJP chief
Hyderabad: Telangana BJP chief N Ramchander Rao criticized the Congress regime, alleging extreme injustice toward Backwards Classes (BCs), Scheduled Castes (SCs), and Scheduled Tribes (STs). He said on Friday, Congress has effectively undermined democracy through the imposition of Emergency, and its slogans—'Jai Bapu,' 'Jai Bhim,' and 'Jai Samvidhan'—have betrayed their true meaning due to the party's actions. Congress has violated justice and constitutional values, he added. Ramchander Rao said that the Congress party continually deceives the people with empty slogans. On the other hand, its true agenda works against them. By claiming to support a 'Samajika Samara Bheri,' Congress is trying to mislead the people of Telangana once again. He asked, 'How will this government, which has failed to fulfil a single promise in its one-and-a-half-year rule, justify its actions to the public?' The State BJP chief pointed out that the Congress party, while chanting 'Jai Bapu,' has, however, weakened Gandhiji's vision of village self-government. 'Their failure to hold local body elections in the state and the pending Rs. 1,200 crore for village development work are against the spirit of Gandhiji's principles,' he said. Moreover, while asserting 'Jai Bhim,' Congress has actually taken tribal lands in areas like Lagacharla and Kondagal, sent bulldozers onto uncultivated lands, framed cases against ST farmers, and closed down Gurukuls. Before they chant 'Jai Samvidhan,' the Congress party must acknowledge its own history. The party that imposed the Emergency in 1975 and undermined democracy has no right to preach about the Constitution. Mallikarjun Kharge is visiting Telangana on Friday, as if all of this has been forgotten. The crucial question on the minds of the people is clear: 'With what face is the Congress party holding this meeting? What more is left to exploit? Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh, and Telangana have all become endless vessels for Congress's looting.' The Congress government, which announced six guarantees and thirteen promises in Telangana, has yet to fully implement any of them. Is it social justice for Congress to harm BCs under the guise of a caste census and include Muslims in the BC quota? Their promises are merely words, and this government's intention appears to be deceiving the people with false slogans. Congress is not holding this meeting for the sake of social justice but rather to undermine it. The people of Telangana will not be misled again.
Time of India
14-06-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Why did Kerala forget its Gandhi translator?
By: Rajesh M Rajagopalan Ente Sathyanweshana Pareekshakal', the first Malayalam translation of Mahatma Gandhi's autobiography 'The Story of My Experiments with Truth', has sold in the hundreds of thousands and is still in print. The translator, however, largely remains in obscurity. A quick internet search for Koothirezhi Madhavan Nair, better known as Madhavanar, yields scant results. His name hardly resonates even in Vallikunnu of Kerala's Malappuram district — his native village. Now, 45 years after his passing, the 50-year-old Jwala Library is set to change that by inaugurating a memorial building in his name. Madhavanar played a pivotal role in the freedom struggle by being at the forefront of the Beypore and Kozhikode Salt Satyagrahas. A staunch social reformer, he also participated in the Guruvayur Satyagraha led by K Kelappan — a historic movement demanding temple entry rights for backward classes and Dalits. Gandhiji maintained regular correspondence with Madhavanar, who served as secretary of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee at the time. In a letter dated June 5, 1931, written from Sabarmati, Gandhiji advised him on strategy: 'My Dear Madhavanar, I have your letter about picketing. At the present moment, I cannot give you better advice than to ask you to discuss the whole thing with Syt. Rajagopalachari and act in consultation with him. I am sure that if orders under 144 are passed, for the time being at any rate, you should obey them.' Madhavanar, along with fellow Gandhians, played a key role in facilitating Gandhiji's later visit to Kozhikode. A close associate of C Rajagopalachari, Madhavanar remained in touch with him even after Independence. He contributed articles to 'Swarajya' magazine, which was under Rajagopalachari's patronage. Born in 1903 in the Koothirezhi family of Vallikunnu, Madhavan Nair was a diligent student. He earned a graduate degree in chemistry from Madras University and began his career at TISCO, Jamshedpur, with a princely salary of Rs 100. But the nationalist movement soon drew him away from scientific pursuits. He journeyed from Jamshedpur to the Himalayas, exploring Badrinath and Kedarnath — a trip that inspired the first-ever Himalayan travelogue in Malayalam. 'Oru Himalaya Yathra', published in 1927, became widely read and is still in print. 'Madhavanar was a true-blue Gandhian who practised what he preached. A staunch opponent of casteism, he once invited a Dalit boy to the Koothirezhi tharavadu, an audacious act for that time. He was also instrumental in introducing EMS Namboothiripad to the AICC and AK Gopalan mentioned him in his autobiography,' said Koothirezhi Harish Kumar, a retired teacher and nephew of Madhavanar. He was also one of the most prominent Malayalam journalists of the pre-Independence era. He served on the editorial board of Mathrubhumi Daily for several years. 'He would leave the Mathrubhumi press only after the first copy came out. A Mathrubhumi vehicle en route to Malappuram would drop him at Feroke, and he would walk nearly 10km in pitch darkness to reach home,' Harish Kumar recalled. Madhavanar was a respected figure in the Kozhikode literary circle. Renowned writer SK Pottekkatt was a regular visitor to Eledathil House, Madhavanar's residence in Vallikunnu. He also maintained close ties with writer Thikkodian. Madhavanar remained a bachelor all through his 1964, he had a bitter brush with local politics. He contested the panchayat election and lost. The idealist Gandhian was not cut out for the shifting political landscape. 'He was very close to my father. When I once asked about his sabbatical from writing, he said he had limited time left but countless books to read. Reading was his greatest passion,' recalls Prof. Shantakumar Mookkamparambath, who used to visit him during his twilight years. He found childlike delight in filling his shelf with new books and took immense pride in his vast home library. Madhavanar passed away in April 1980. Power politics was not his forte, and knowingly or unknowingly, he faded from public memory. Jwala Library's Madhavanar Memorial Building will be a fitting tribute to the man who cherished books. The memorial will remind future generations that a man of remarkable greatness – a valorous freedom fighter and a gifted writer – once walked this land. (The writer is a creative director who runs an ad agency in Thrissur) Follow more information on Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad here . Get real-time live updates on rescue operations and check full list of passengers onboard AI 171 .
Hans India
05-06-2025
- Politics
- Hans India
Despite numerous highs since Independence, many challenges remain
Independence from the colonial British tyrannical rule was still two years in the future when I was born. I was a seven-month pregnancy born premature baby, and there was little hope of my survival in the beginning. There were neither antibiotics nor incubators at that time and even penicillin was rarely in use. But, thanks to the tender care of my mother and her brother, Dr. Gandhi, my maternal uncle and father-in-law to be, a resident in the Madras Medical College at that time, I became a near normal healthy baby by the age of three months. Gandhiji had come to Chennai at that time to lay the foundation stone for Andhra Mahila Sabha, a great welfare institution meant for children, women, and the challenged, and the brainchild of Dr. Durgabai Deshmukh, one of the greatest women India has produced in the previous century. She and my mother, Manikyamba, fondly called Papayamma by friends and family, took me to Gandhiji and requested him to bless me. Thus Mohandas became my name, subsequently changed to Mohan, as I am known today. I have, therefore, no claims to have been a part of the freedom movement. Dr. Gandhi and his father, however, were known for their participation in it. Those were the peak of the freedom movement and Durgabai was just one of the many fiercely patriotic fighters in Gandhi's vast nationwide army. Their valiant efforts soon bore fruit and India became independent from the imperialistic rule. At the stroke of midnight of 14 August 1947, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India, stood in Parliament and made his famous speech beginning with the words, 'Long years ago, we made a tryst with destiny …', and ended up by asking the people of India, the historic question, '….Are we brave enough and wise enough to grasp this opportunity and accept the challenge of the future'? And now, in retrospect, when one looks back over one's shoulder, the question arises, did we prove equal to Nehru's expectations; Or Hamlet's remark in Shakespeare's 'Hamlet', 'Ay, there's the rub!' Having become a republic in 1950, India has just celebrated 75 years as an independent nation, a celebration marked with nationwide jubilation and named 'Azadi Ka Amritkal Mahotsav'. This marks for a good time to take stock of the accomplishments and disappointments, the successes and failures, and the state of the balance sheet. On the credit side, the accomplishment with the best claim to a place in it will be the manner in which the country obtained its independence, through a movement informed by the unprecedented spirit of 'Ahimsa', a spirit embraced by the Mahatma, the likes of which have never been seen in the annals of world history from the war of independence in the United States to the recent bifurcation of Sudan. Literally overnight, at the stroke of midnight on 14 August 1947, many scourges that dogged the Indian psyche, as the practice of Sati, untouchability, the system of zamindaris were banished. And several farsighted and forward-looking reforms came to be, including universal franchise, and work began to frame a Constitution for the new Republic. Another significant development was the achievement of food security, thanks to the historic efforts of those heroes of the childhood of the nascent Republic, such as M.S. Swaminathan, Norman Borlaug, M.V. Rao and Verghese Kurien. Their contributions led to multicoloured revolutions in the agriculture sector, green, white, blue, and yellow to usher in an era of food security. A country barely recovering from the nightmarish memories of a ravaging famine soon became not merely self- reliant, but also acquired the ability to export agricultural goods. Yet another important development was the establishment of constitutional and statutory institutions, such as the Supreme Court of India, the Election Commission of India and the Union Public Service Commission, which acquitted themselves admirably and brought laurels to the nation from the nooks and corners of the world. What further enhances one's pride is the eminence accomplished by the sons and daughters of India in different spheres; from working for world peace, by Mahatma Gandhi, Rabindranath Tagore, and Mother Teresa, through literature, by Bhanu Mushtaq and Deepa Bhashti (recently awarded the Booker Prize), culture through the international popularity of matinee idols Raj Kapoor and Amitabh Bachchan, sports, through the spectacular accomplishments of Sachin Tendulkar in cricket and Koneru Hampi in chess, to scientific research thanks to the path-breaking discoveries of CV Raman and Hargobind Singh Khurana and adventure through the achievements of pioneering mountaineer Tenzing Norgay, and Rakesh Sharma and Kalpana Chawla, in space exploration. The second watershed in the history of modern India was the advent of the forces of liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation. The manner in which the country rode that wave, and emerged, not only unscathed, but refreshed and buoyant, won the admiration of the whole world. In fact, The then Chairman of the Federal Bank of USA, went to the extent of saying that had Dr. Y. Venugopal Reddy, then Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, been in his place, the international financial meltdown might not have occurred at all! That, however, is only one side of the coin. When one flips the coin, what one sees is a bleak and disappointing picture. India remains home to nearly half of the population living below the poverty line, in countries belonging to the South Asia and Pacific region, which, in turn, represents half of the total number of poor people in the world. Access to good quality education health/medical services remains a distant dream. Children are sold as commodities in our metropolitan cities, women are killed in the name of honour in some parts of the country and farmers continue to commit suicide on account of economic distress. Income and wealth inequalities have reached totally unacceptable levels, despite over 75 years of determined effort, rapid growth and sustainable development, the recently concluded Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav celebrations notwithstanding. And, on the external front, the attachment to the so-called policy of non-alignment has left the country friendless, both in the neighbourhood and outside. This is not the time, therefore, either to rest on one's oars, to let one's hair down, or put one's feet up with satisfaction or contentment. Nor, on the other hand, is there any cause for despair. While much has been achieved, a good deal remains to be done. The residual agenda, however, is certainly not beyond the ability of the country, and its people. With a gigantic task beckoning the people, everyone will have a role to play, whether politician, civil servant, doctor, engineer, lawyer, architect, businessman, industrialist, scientist, academician or NGO or community-based organization. A light hearted snippet to end this piece: In the 1960s, tribals in Srikakulam district were given bullocks as part of the activities undertaken by the Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA) of the district. The assistance extended by the government was in the nature of a subsidy covering 25 per cent of the cost of the bullocks and the rest of the money came partly by way of margin money from the ITDA and the rest as a medium term loan from a commercial bank. The Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, who was visiting various parts of the country, to check the pace and quality of the implementation of various welfare programmes, asked his vehicle to be stopped by the roadside in a village and enquired of a farmer how the bullocks were faring. The innocent farmer beamed and said, 'Very tasty sir, thank you!' As a wise guy said, upon hearing the story, a remarkable case of a long-term loan being used for short-term purposes, instead of, as usual, the other way around! (The writer was formerly Chief Secretary, Government of Andhra Pradesh)
