Mr. James Otis,the earlier owner of Mahatma Gandhi's personal belongings now wants them back,after putting those for auction and after Vijay Mallya won the auction..!
Even Mahatma's relatives are upset with this man's frequent flip-flops.One day he says he is willing to give the articles to the Indian government free of cost,next day backtracks and puts conditions.The flip-flops continues..
And if you have a look at some of his known conditions,it can only be categorised as 'absurd'.His known conditions are,"increase in the spending on the poor by the Indian government and fully paid exhibition of Gandhi's items in 78 countries to spread the apostle of peace's message of non-violence."
Whatever may be the merit of the suggestion for increased spending for poor,he should remember that he is not talking to some other private individuals.India is a soverign,independent and a proud nation.He should not be dictating terms to India and he should not be telling us what to do regarding our internal matters.He is a foreign national and he has no moral authority to force India to make policy changes according to his whims and fancies..
If he has so much care for the poor in India,let him get permission from the government and use the money he will be receiving from the auction for setting up some welfare activity in India for the poor.
Regarding his second condition,"fully paid exhibition of Gandhi's items in 78 countries to spread the apostle of peace's message of non-violence.",well,I don't know which are the 78 countries he has in mind,but I am not sure an exibition of Gandhi's items will bring peace.
Will such an exhibition have any change of mindset in countries like pakistan,Afganistan??
Surely not.
I am not trying to degrade Gandhiji' message of love,peace and non-violence,but can Otis,guarantee that after all the huge effort needed for this proposal to materialize,there will be total peace in those 78 countries?
Gandhiji's message is still very much relevant today.But this exibition stuff and all...
If such symbolisms will bring peace,the world would have been a Heaven much earlier...!!
May be I am not able to convey the message properly here,but I do think that an exhibition of Gandhi's belongings world over is unnecessary waste of money and effort .That money could be used for the poor,I suppose...!!
There are other optimal ways of spreading Gandhi's message.
It's for the government of India to talk to this guy through the government of the country he belongs and try and understand what is his real motive,what he actually wants.
Hopefully he is not trying to stay in limelight and have cheap publicity.If this is his real motive,then he is insulting Gandhiji's memories.
He says he wants the articles back as he thinks there is already politics over it because the gentleman who bought them belong to the opposition party..!!!
Well,this is a new information to even those in India.Vijay Mallya belongs to an opposition party??
Either some body is misguiding Mr.Otis or he is just ignorant.
Mallya is a business tycoon and as far I know he does not belong to either the BJP or Janata Dal(S),the two main opposition parties of the Congress party in Karnataka(The state to which Mallya belongs).How come Otis say that he is an oposition party member?
It's true that Union Culture Minister Ambika Soni tried to claim credit for the successful auction.But once Mallya refuted it and facts became known,the government accepted Mallya's effort and there was no controversy after that.
So it's not true to say that it has become a political issue.
Mr.Otis should either return the Gandhi items to India or get lost..!!
And it's time,India decides once and for all,whether we really need these items back,and if the answer is yes,it's better to deal with the government of Otis' parent country,instead of directly talking to a private individual..
I am winding up this post with the following words from Gandhiji's great-grandson:
"They are degrading the name of my great-grandfather by making all these dramatic statements," Tushar Gandhi told a TV news channel.Tushar Gandhi also questioned Otis' authority to deliver a moral judgement on India.
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