gandhiji
Our present day netas would say if “ he(Gandhji)wants to die, let him die”

As the drama associated with the transfer of power by Janatadal(Secular) to BJP in Karnataka was being enacted with the patriarch of JD(S), Mr H D Deve Gowda “discovering”, after sharing power with and enjoying the company of Yediyurappa and Company for 20 months, on the appointed day of handing over power that BJP was a “communal party”,with absolutely no qualms about the trust and values, and with even those who oppose the ideology of what the media calls as a ‘saffron party’, condemning Mr Gowda’s stance as one of betrayal, I was re-reading Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre’s “Freedom at Midnight”, and by sheer coincidence, got stuck up with a passage, which relates to the cherished values of Truth and Trust, as lived upto by Mahatma Gandhi.I thought that for the benefit of those who are not aware about the cause for which the Mahatma went on fast, the last fast in his life in the second week of January 1948, before bullets pumped in his frail body by Nathuram Godse two weeks later, I could refer to about the great soul force and moral courage he displayed for the Cause of Truth and honouring the commitment.

This incident relates to India’s strong opposition to give the balance of share of Rs 500 million to Pakistan as per the agreement arrived at between India and Pak on the division of assets and liabilities on the eve of partition. Ofcourse India, with Nehru and Sardar Patel, not to speak of the general mood of the people in the country, rightly argued that if India gave this amount, it would be used by Pak to purchase arms to kill Indian troops who had been fighting against the ‘tribal invasion” of Kashmir, with Pak troops actually involved in it .But to Gandhiji honouring the agreement was more important than the purpose for which the amount will be used by Pakistan.India could have justifiably exploited the situation in Pakistan in the name of the ‘honour of the Country ‘, for Jinnah was in a desparate situation with his new nation was almost bankrupt, with only only Rs 20 of the Rs 200 million given earlier as advance by India remaining and when even a cheque issued by his Government to the British Overseas Airways had bounced.Jinnah s suffered a crushing humiliation.India could not have had a better opportunity to teach Pak and Jinnah a lesson for their misadventure.
But Gandhiji viewed the situation from the prism of Truth , which he equated it to God.He believed India’s decision had no moral basis, money belonged to Pak, and refusing to pay it was almost an act of international embezzlement.When he failed to convince even Nehru and Patel , he undertook fast, which was greeted by people of India with consternation and even condemnation, a feeling inflamed with the overflowing refugees crying their hatred of Moslems.
Gandhiji might have been forgotten man today , with our netas on Oct 2 annually mouthing their shibboleths about the relevance of Gandhism even today, but by undertaking the fast, as the great authors of the book,’ Freedom at Midnight “he reminded all India who he was and what he stood for .For the last time he was forcing his countrymen to ponder the meaning of his life and the message he had sought to deliver them”
Today when an avowed commitment to an even insiginificant issue like sharing power, after enjoying the company of partner, is not honoured ,legitimising their action, one would be inclined to ponder over the great drift of our politicians from Gandhism, ofcourse , comforting from the fact thateven then there was a segment of society which cried “Let Gandhi Die”.Here the question is not whether sharing power with a “communal party” , but living upto Truth and Trust.If the general feeling in Karnataka is that JD(S) is a grerat betrayer, and a feeling that may be mellowed down as days pass on, it is not an issue concerning BJP or Lingayats to which community Mr Yediyuruppa belongs.It is one of values of Trust and commitment.