Weary of hate, Gujarat rediscovers Gandhi

Students, NGOs, social and religious organisations, institutions and political parties organised functions to remember the teachings of the Mahatma. While the political functions were mundane publicity stunts, the citizens who had spontaneously gathered for peace prayers, surprised many.

‘‘It should not be really surprising. Gandhi lived and fought for peace and communal harmony. And in the prevailing atmosphere, people may try to reassure themselves by turning to him,’’ observes noted human rights activist and lawyer Girish Patel.

‘‘Thinking of the prevailing situation in the city, people may have thought this would be the correct way to express their desire for peace. There were so many new faces at all the programmes and they all came with a sincere prayer for peace,’’ observes Gandhian Jitendra Desai, who is also the Vice-Chancellor of Gujarat Vidhyapith.

A kilometre-long human chain formed by residents of the communally sensitive Rakhial area set the tone in the morning. Post-Godhra, Rakhial and nearby Bapunagar witnessed some of the worst incidents of rioting. However, on Gandhi Jayanti, people of both communities came out to hold hands and appeal for peace.

Not far away at the Kankaria Zoo, around 100 students painted pictures depicting national unity on a 100-feet-long paper roll.

The Sabarmati Gandhi Ashram was unusually crowded as a large number of people walked in to attend the all-religion prayer meeting. Noting the large number of people, young and old, noted Gandhian Narayan Desai observed that if teachings of Gandhi were followed, a number of present-day problems could be solved. ‘‘Violence would not have taken place and terrorism would not have been a major problem if Gandhi’s teachings were followed,’’ says Desai.

At the Income-Tax Circle, the common man rubbed shoulders with politicians and VIPs to offer flowers at Gandhi’s statue. The scene at the Circle, otherwise associated with demonstrations and dharnas, was unusually quiet as people solemnly gathered, taking turns to throw flowers and offer prayers.

The Lok Sangharsh Samiti (LSS) comprising Gandhians Prakash Shah, Indukumar Jani, Chunibhai Vaidya and others, held a prayer meeting at Godhra today.

Meanwhile, a statement by the Indian Council of Jurists stated that a rally and candlelight procession will be held in South Africa on October 22 and 23 to highlight the importance of Gandhian philosophy, which also became a point of discussion at late evening discussions held at Gujarat Vidhyapith and the Gandhi Ashram. The statement was released by Adish Agarwal, convener of the Council.