GANDHI / KHADI / MODI / CHARKHA / KVIC
Ramakant Tiwari 
( the views expressed are the personal views of author and not that of Editor or Patriots Forum)
An interesting controversy erupted in the form of Gandhi / Khadi / Modi / Charkha / KVIC as KVIC published Calender 2017 with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the spinning wheel in the posture we all are habituated to behold MK Gandhi alone. Congress have cried hoarse as they have nothing better to do under the Holy leadership of Rahul Gandhi.
Prime Minister Modi is a far greater freedom-fighter than MK Gandhi / JL Nehru.
Gandhi could not liberate India from the vice like grip of British clutches of slavery. From Robert Clive to Mountbatten, they all were hardened white-collar criminals. Netaji Bose had to intervene to strike the final, decisive blow to eject British-Goras from the country with his Indian National Army, so go so many tales of freedom movement by well-versed historians.
Gandhi did not liberate Bharata from India. In fact, he handed over Bharata to India represented by JL Nehru and his dynasty by bullying Sardar Patel to withdraw from the race to become PM in spite of massive support for Sardar.
Gandhi did not threaten self-immolation to prevent partition. He should have done that to prove his greatness and commitment to the nation, if at all he had any.
If someone tells me, Gandhi kept the Cauldron Of Freedom Movement boiling so that Netaji Bose could liberate the nation with his Indian National Army, I would pity his / her intellectual bankruptcy. Mangal Pandey, CS Azad, Bismil, Bhagat Singh, Veer Savarkar, Chapekar Brothers, Udham Singh…were the real ones who kept the cauldron boiling at enormous hardship and so many of them just burnt themselves alive in flames of freedom movement. Today, at hindsight, I am unable to answer the question, why I should respect / idolise Gandhi and for what…for preaching Ahimsa to Hindu-s instead of calling them to lift Gandiva to throw out Gora-Intruders coming from Britain… he made a mockery of the wisdom of Bhagvadgita…for promoting Hindustani instead of Samskrita…for supporting Khilafat which turned out to be highly detrimental for the country and sowed seeds of partition…is it really possible to throw away a brutal regime with Ahimsa, Charkha, Multani Mitti, goat’s milk…and Khadi condoms for ‘Gandhian’ Brahmacharya !!!
In 1967 Aug., a seminar was held in New Delhi to celebrate 20th Independence Day anniversary and it was attended by a galaxy of Who’s Who of the capital. One of the speakers was the then British High Commissioner in New Delhi, John Freeman and the topic of debate was, at what point of history independence of Bharata became a certainty transcending fierce opposition of even diehard imperialists like Winston Churchill. British High Commissioner asserted, it was in 1946 when Royal Indian Navy revolted against the Crown, freedom became a certainty. The revolt began with a minor looking complaint about poor quality of food provided to sailors. The rebellion entered Royal Indian Air Force, then Royal Indian Army. And it was all at the instance and instigation of Indian National Army of Netaji Bose. Within no time, it irrupted like a volcano, spread all over and British had no guts to take action. That was the turning point of history when Congress leaders were busy furiously bargaining terms & conditions of independence with Brit-Goras led by Viceroy Mountbatten. Gandhi and Jinnah condemned the revolt while Sardar Patel played the role of a fire-fighter with mutineers.
Now the question arises, why were Britishers so scared that they did not use force to quell the revolt. It was the memory of 1857 when British were brutally killed in very large numbers by freedom-fighters that petrified them with fear. They feared the ominous possibility of every single Britisher being slain by mutineers as the level of anger was very high against them. They were 40,000 in numbers then, had raised an army of 2.5 million Bharatiya soldiers after World War II with so many of them holding specialised training from Sandhurst while in 1857, numbers were far less and bereft of effective leadership. That was the mortal fear that forced Britishers to quit earliest possible. The then British Prime Minister Clement Attlee too had confirmed the same during his visit in Kolikata. This one is the most authentic version of our chronicle of freedom movement. Revolt 1857 followed by Naval / Air Force / Army Revolt 1946 brought us freedom from British domination, at least partially.
War of Independence was sparked by Mangal Pandey in 1857 and concluded by Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose with his India National Army in 1946.
Prime Minister Modi has been working / struggling day and night to undo those historical wrongs at an enormous risk to his life and liberty. Magnitude of insults / abuses / excruciating harassment for years at the hands of biased judiciary that he has taken / ignored, are even worse than being hanged till death. Yet, he has not complained at all so far other than deriving political mileage / advantage during elections.
MK Gandhi does not hold copyright over Khadi exactly as JL Nehru does not hold copyright over Teen-Murty Bhavan !!
After leading 35% rise in sale of Khadi, PM Modi enjoys every right to be a Khadi-Icon. After languishing for decades, Khadi now has the right icon to brag about.
I assert and re-assert with maximum emphasis at my command, Prime Minister Modi is a far greater freedom-fighter than Gandhi-Nehru.
Ramakant Tiwari
