Who needs Gandhi in Gujarat? Not his party

LOST CAUSE: The Mahatma's message is lost on Gujarat's political parties.

    

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Narainbhai Desai, 80, is the Chancellor of the Gujarat Vidyapeeth in Ahmedabad and a Gandhian. He teaches, lives and swears by the philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi.

Narainbhai’s father Mahadev Desai was the Mahatma’s private secretary. When Madhav died, Gandhi mourned by calling the death a personal widowhood. “He (Gandhi) was a great friend to me. I know him as a hard taskmaster at Sevagram. My life now is how Gandhi taught it to be,” says Madhav.

Gandhi is Gujarat’s greatest son, but as the state braces for the December 2007 elections there is little sign of him or his philosophy. The Congress and the BJP face the perfect Gandhian dilemma: the Congress is unsure if Gandhi is still acceptable and the BJPs dilemma is Gandhi too much of Congress property.

Congress chief Sonia Gandhi was recently in central Gujarat's Anand district, BJP Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s bastion. Anand, the birthplace of the co-operative dairy movement, suffered one of the worst violence during the 2002 riots.

One would have expected Sonia to pull out all punches when she flagged off the party's election campaign here. But all that Sonia Gandhi said was: "This is the land of Gandhiji, Sardar, Ravishankar Maharaj and Kasturba. Gujarati brothers have made their mark all over the world, but in recent times one question is frequently asked: who rules Gujarat now. We all know the misdeeds during their rule in 2002, and the truth that has come out now makes us hang our heads in shame. Which civilised society would want such a rule?"

The Congress’ hesitation with the 2002 riots is clear and it does not want to give the impression of being a completely Muslim-friendly party. "We are followers of Gandhi, Nehru, and Maulana Azad," says Kripashankar Singh, Congress observer for Gujarat.

The Congress has always tiptoed around the 2002 riots. Five years later, the party that hopes to oust Modi is wary that awakening the ghosts of 2002 could help the CM consolidate the Hindu vote.

So it’s relying on a divided house, angry Kolis, and the disillusioned tribals who voted for the BJP in the last elections. Riots and riot victims can wait. As Tushar Choudhary, Congress MP from Surat, says: "The BJP government has done nothing for the farmers or the tribals of the state."

The story is the same in Naroda Patiya, where the narrow lanes, dirty surroundings and condition of Gujarati Muslims are quite the same as it was five years ago. Shabnam, a Class VIII student, has given many an interview to TV channels and it’s always about violence that she speaks. “I want to study if my parents allow me to. I don't know if there is violence again will I be able to study,” she says.

Shabnam has heard of Gandhi and ahimsa but that lesson ends in Naroda Patiya. Just in the next lane to Shabnams, Abdul lives with his wife, sister and two children. He lost six members of his family in the riots and agreed to an interview after much coaxing.

Abdul is a butcher and sells beef for a living. “You would be repulsed by me. You are a Hindu, aren't you? But I do this to earn my bread,” he says.

Abdul’s views may reflect Gandhi's teachings but no one is listening to the Mahatma . The irony is that in a polarised society it is perhaps inevitable that it’s Modi who has become larger than life, not the Mahatma whose life was devoted to bridging the communal divide.