Set the record straight

Why the campaign to declare January 30 as the International Ahimsa Day touched a chord across the world. Hardnews takes a closer look

A few years ago some Japanese and Korean children studying in a Paris school gave a call for observing Mahatma Gandhi's day of assassination, January 30, as an International Ahimsa (non-violence) Day. These children learnt about Gandhi from Richard Attenborough's film and how he creatively defied British colonialists by making salt — a product banned by them. The children wanted the day to be celebrated with imagination and purpose and got down penning it down as to how they would want it to be observed. Akshay Bakaya, the teacher who taught these children about Gandhi's work and philosophy, took it upon himself to lend meaning to their call to the UN by seeking the support of Nobel laureates like Shirin Ebadi, and intellectuals like Noam Chomsky and Romila Thapar. Bakaya got good support from his friends and other people, but it was not enough to make the UN wise to this idea.

When I met him in 2005, Bakaya was obsessed with this idea and was looking for people who believed in his cause. He did not need great persuasion as his passion and commitment seemed infectious. It was clear that the spirit of JNU had not left him after all these years. It is possible to sense in him the innocent idealism, a hallmark of Left radicals who populated the campuses in the 1970s and 1980s.

We in Hardnews magazine offered to extend support to the cause and employed a coordinator to network with Delhi schools and other institutions to elicit their help. A new website was mounted (www.ahimsaonline.org) to get online signatures of all those who believed in Gandhi. Our effort was to replicate in Delhi the energy displayed by the young minds of Paris. Alongside, we began to drum up support in the political class. We wrote to the Congress President Sonia Gandhi requesting her to provide leadership to this cause. We also met HRD Minister Arjun Singh, who seemed excited about the idea. He agreed to send instructions to all government schools under his ministry to demand that January 30 be declared as the International Day of Non-Violence. We were very happy with Singh's response and felt that we were closer to reaching our shared objective. Singh did his bit and disseminated the idea with his officials and senior members of his party.

However, the response to our call to converge at the place the Mahatma was assassinated was a bit indifferent. We knew that it was a long, arduous journey and it was bound to have its highs and lows. When we learnt that the Congress was celebrating '100 years of Satyagraha', we began to connect with party leaders once again. Mohsina Kidwai gave a sympathetic ear and promised to take our message to the organisers. All these exertions worked at some level when Sonia Gandhi passed a resolution in Delhi during the Peace, Non-Violence and Empowerment — Gandhian Philosophy in the 21st Century conference to declare Mahatma's birthday, October 2, as the International Ahimsa Day. Evidently, there was a rethink about the date, and January 30, when Gandhi became a victim of hate, was dropped in favour of his birthday. Seemingly, minds in the Congress did not appreciate the symbolism behind January 30 and chose the easy and softer option.

The purpose of this column is to set the record straight about the efforts put in by the children of Paris, Bakaya and scores of his friends to make the UN realise the importance of Gandhi in a world torn by mindless violence. Bakaya's mission is still incomplete. He is trying to get a visa to India for filmmaker, Arnaud Mandagaran, who has made a compelling documentary on the assassins of Gandhi. Despite repeated attempts on his part to get a visa, the Indian foreign office has steadfastly denied it to him. Mandagaran's film needs to be telecast on Indian channels to inform the viewers the threat fascism poses to civil order. During a private viewing in Delhi, many people were rudely shaken by the movie. Indian bureaucrats, who are denying visa to Mandagaran, view his conduct and work as subversive  — little realising that the British colonialists too viewed Gandhi no better.