I beg to disagree with the writer's indignance at the Saudi King and George Bush giving Gandhiji's memorial a miss. If you ask me this whole country is a memorial to the man who gave us indepnedence with dignity. While he gave us our birth right -swaraj...he taught the world a new way to deal with suppression of human rights! Many a movement and leader has found inspiration from this man...Matin Luther King, Nelson Mandela being cases in point.
The very teaching of Gandhiji was not to demand respect but to command it. By insisting that these dignitaries show respect to the father of our nation we are surely defeating that noble idea.
Why do we need to feel insulted, on the contrary, you must sympathise with people of limited imagination and intellect...In fact I would be insulted if the man who inflicted war on hapless Iraqi's for narrow political gains sets foot in Gandhiji's memorial!
Why does this columnist try to flare up unnecessary issues? If Bush or someone else does not want to go to the Mahatma's samadhi because of their own personal reasons, that should not be taken to mean "blatant insult" to the Mahatma. If we look at the no. of Indians who think of Gandhiji at least once on his birthday every year, then we will clearly know the amount of respect we give to the great soul. Why should we be so bothered about some (stupid) foreign dignitaries not following a tradition we defined when as a nation, we fall far short of giving the Mahatma his due respect?
Rediff editors should work more diligently in deciding what goes on their website. Useless arguments designed to flare up unneeded tensions find place in politicians speeches, sadly. Dont spread them to Rediff.
Whether it is the Saudi monarch or the US President, they are our guests. It is our duty to make sure they are comfortable - not the other way round. "Adithi Devo Bhava" is the Indian tradition. And, is the Mahatma insulted if a person does not visit his samadhi?
there are religious edicts against raising tombs,even prophet muhammed's tomb is not raised.leave alone ,it is not visted or paid homage at.you pagans must learn to respect others religious sentiments.we dont ask you for any ritual against your faith when pagan dignitories visit muslim or christian countries.this time not king ABDULLAH and Mr.Bush are right.there is reverence for Gandhi in every muslim heart,that doesnt mean we have to break religious rules to show it,that just doesn't make sense.we have our way of paying homage,plz dont keep dictating how we go abt everything.dhandpani ,i request you to respect others religious sentiment.
Thanks for this article which clearly demonstrates what a good PM Dr. Singh is.
He knows what is in the national interest, and does it. And he doesn't fall prey to the childish, sentimental rubbish that Indians usually fall for. Getting oil from the Saudis is important for the nation. Having the Saudi king pay respencts to Gandhi is not so important.
Other Indian leaders would have lost sight of the big picture and started pouting about of the great insult that had been done, like some sort of 6 year old child who doesn't get his way. Thankfully, we finally have a PM who is above such stupid games.
I quite don't understand what exactly this whole article is about! Is it about Mahatma Gandhi and how he is not being respected by foreign heads of state? Is it about India's energy needs and what we should be doing about it? Is it about how we Indians generally tend to suck up to anything western? Or is it about traditions being broken and heritage not being followed?
Really Mr. Vijay, I think you have lost the plot here. What would have been an otherwise wonderful article, actually ended up being all over the place. Hope you stick to the issue in the future and write within that sphere, instead of trying to derive conspiracy theories out of things that don't really matter, like everyone else does.
Dear Mr.Dandapani, I have NO LOVE for Bush whatsoever,but I think this matter about insult to our Mahatma is carrying matters too far.Visits to ANY place by ANY visiting dignitary is Protocol bound, which I am MORE than sure you know.So Bush NOT visiting the Samadhi, depends on both countries action plan.I know of MUCH GREATER INSULTS and disrespect shown to our Mahatma by Indians in India.So please dont try to see ghosts where there are none.And your article stinks more of a POLITICAL message to whip up INDIAN sentiments against the Government of India.When will intellectuals like you GUIDE rather than WHIP emotions.I would like to elaborate on the TOTAL IGNORANCE of Bush in everything, and make a laughing stock of him, than talk of insult to our Mahatma.
