Of Gandhi, Godse and the Choice!

“Good and evil both co-exist in this world”

As the saying goes, the world is balanced by both the good people and the bad ones. Even though it isn’t in our abilities to control, the bad has strived through generations without much ado. It is very important as to what we ought to choose to be. And it is equally important to know the difference between a good person and a bad person!

As I stumble upon such thoughts, one of the most discussed topics of Indian history comes to my mind. This topic goes about as to whether Gandhi was a good human or not? Or was he a selfish one? Was Gandhi really not a great personality? Was Godse justified in assassinating him? Does Gandhi deserve to be given the title “Father of the Nation”? Or was all the greatness surrounding him over-hyped? Too many questions, but answers: all diplomatic!

Surprisingly, I have come across many people who hate Gandhi. In fact, even a few of my friends think similarly. They have a certain notion that he was a selfish person, who didn’t deserve the respect he has got all along. According to them, the partition was also a part-fault of Mr. Gandhi. You might be thinking as to why would I bring about this topic all of a sudden? A few weeks ago, I came across a certain piece of news about the ill-fated Hindu Mahasabha’s plans to establish a temple dedicated to Mr. Godse. I mean, how cool is that? Just because you are out of basic modern ideas, doesn’t mean you would go about deliberately trying to show your foolishness to the rest of the world. The Hindu Mahasabha or even the RSS, are all wings of the BJP. They have their differences against the Congress. Even I am against the Congress but that doesn’t mean I hate Mahatma Gandhi. My hatred towards Congress isn’t in any way related to my vision towards the father of our nation.

Even if Mahatma Gandhi was partially at fault for the massive number of deaths during independence struggle and the India-Pakistan partition, Nathuram Godse didn’t have any right to kill him. He was in no way authorized to take the law upon his own hands and kill a person. The Hindu Mahasabha says that Godse was a martyr! They say he was a hero. They say he did the right thing in killing Gandhiji, which is why they are adamant on installing a temple, where Godse would be worshipped. In that case, I am very much thankful that Hitler or for that matter, Osama Bin Laden or even Saddam Hussein weren’t Indian Hindus! Otherwise, the Mahasabha would have founded a religion or two in their names.

Let me be clear to you. However, is the role of Mahatma Gandhi in the partition or independence struggle, I would never have any hatred towards him. It was because of him that our country gained independence. Or otherwise, we would have still been under British colonial rule. I would never consider Godse to be a hero. In fact, he was a murderer and murderers are actually cowardly morons. Whoever thinks of Godse as a patriot or hero is equally senseless and idiotic. If you don’t have this amount of common sense, I suppose you don’t belong to this planet. Every person has some drawbacks. Even Gandhi was a human. It is very important to see the good-half of a person rather than search for his negative side. What Gandhi has done for India, for whatever reasons it might be, has actually led to our independence. The journey of struggles, those that have been put in our history books. Those that have been part of our proud national history. Those that leaders of various countries admire, including President Obama. Those that a few percent of our population has failed to find significance. Those that have helped in gaining the independence of India. Those that we should be proud of. Those that have been possible because of one man: Mahatma Gandhi. Every person who does good will definitely have enemies who envy, but the person has to move on. So, does all his good work towards our country, India.

Indeed, Einstein proclaimed:

“Generations to come will scarce believe that such a one as this ever in flesh and blood walked upon this Earth.”