Divide and rule Vs unite and progress

Come October 2, almost all of our leaders make a beeline to Raj Ghat in New Delhi. It has become an annual ritual. In other parts of the country, they garland statues of Mahatma Gandhi. Once upon a time they used to deliver longish speeches, attend public functions and extol people to be worthy of Gandhi. Schools had holidays, but some social organisations used to conduct elocution contests for kids and hold cleanliness drives by sweeping the streets, though symbolically. Over the generations, trends have changed. Now, no leader has time to prepare longish speeches and deliver, not their audience have the time or inclination.

They all have social media. The PM's visit to Raj Ghat – and later Vijay Ghat, Lal Bahadur Shatri's Samadhi – attracted the mechanical 20,000 likes. But even there, people seem to be losing interest. Sad. Just look at Prime Minister Modi's tweet on his finding at Bapu's birthplace – that Gandhi's home practised water conservation 200 years ago. The PM is the world's most popular leader in terms of following. Yet, his tweet on Porbandar got 1,003 retweets, 14 quote tweets and 3,280 likes. This should make Modi's spin doctors start wondering about the effectiveness of the communication.

This brings us to the discussion point that Gandhi at his 153rd birth anniversary has been reduced to a mere annual ritual. We do not remember him on the martyrs' day. Yet another aspect of these two days is that these are forced 'dry days' when alcohol is not supposed to be sold. Many people who may not be aware of who Gandhi was and his leadership in the freedom struggle are reminded of the Mahatma at least on these days.

Every city has a Mahatma Gandhi Road. The road names are known by their short versions – M G Road. Ask anyone in Bengaluru or Mumbai, for instance, for Mahatma Gandhi Road. Iam sure you will see blank faces. M G Road? They tell you. We have MGNREGA –Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act – that ensures basic minimum income to the jobless. But no one refers to it with Gandhi's name. Everybody calls it NAREGA – at best the M Narega. I wonder as to why we refer to the scheme with such a longish acronym. Why can't we simply call it Gandhi Jobs? Or just Gandhi Project? For that matter even Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (the erstwhile Victoria Terminus of VT forshort) is referred to as CSMT (and CST by most) and Sardar Patel Road is called S P Road.

Then, there is a lot which used to remember Gandhi because of his face on the currency notes. In fact, the five-hundred-rupee note was popularly known as Bapu. But today, every note has Bapu's picture so that reference is part of history now. Again, these pictures and names sound so ritualistic – the rituals that we have forgotten.What is more important than these rituals is to remember and practise the Gandhian values. Remember, Gandhi walked the talk. He practised what he preached which hardly any leader does today.

Gandhi was a visionary. He believed in Gram Swaraj – the self-rule of villages by the villagers themselves. He was a great proponent of cooperative movement. The SwachhBharat Abhiyan was originally practised by Gandhi who himself used to sweep his Ashrams.

There is a notable anecdote about this Gandhian cleanliness that he asked Kastur Ba to clean toilets which she refused. He got insanely angry with her and asked her to get out. This is depicted very well in Richard Attenborough's Oscar winner Gandhi.

On social values, no one can beat Gandhi's drive against untouchability and for equality. Heeven referred to the so-called backward classes as Harijans (children of God). Gandhi was the embodiment of tolerance which does not exist in any leader's dictionary today. Equality and justice are the other Gandhian words that have been deleted from these dictionaries. If the Britishers practised 'divide and rule' policy, Gandhi countered it with 'unite and win' doctrine. There is a lot that one can write and speak about Mahatma Gandhi, but what is important is to practise his thoughts.

Rahul Gandhi is on a Bharat Jodo yatra which is a good and great opportunity to revive Gandhian principles which are of paramount importance in these kinds of hate mongering.Certain people loosely refer to the first family of the Congress as Gandhis. Mahatma Gandhi is way above these people as the Gandhis of the Congress have nothing to do with the Fatherof the Nation.

The majority party and its governments are trying to appropriate Gandhi to suit their short-term needs. That is very strange for the people who do not believe in 'Ishwar Allah Tero Naam'. If Nehruvian secularism practised appeasement of the minorities, the present Hindu majoritarianism espouses anti-minority feelings.

Gandhi told us all Gods are the same and even modified 'Raghupati Raghava Rajaram' kirtan. To that extent Gandhi could be considered as a great Hindu, but he did not allow his love forRam to turn into hatred for Rahim. Today's top leadership may not directly preach minorityhatred. But its silence on hate mongering and violence speaks volumes. Even those one-liners on social media saying 'violence is not acceptable' do not serve any purpose as they are not direct hits. These messages do not serve any purpose other than making a few media headlines and reporters saying 'in an apparent reference to violence at etc.'

The Amrit Kaal is a godsend opportunity to talk of India as one – secular or religious. But it seems to further perpetuate divisions with narrow minded political, religious, regional feelings and leaders playing with emotions. Until and unless, the leaders preach and practice 'Ishwar Allah Tero Naam', Gandhi cannot be liberated from the decorative statues.

(The columnist is a Mumbai-based media veteran now running many news-based websites and a youtube channel, known for his thought-provoking messaging. The views expressed are personal)