Heaven since we did not have to get up until 8.00am for a relaxing breakfast and a panoramic tour of Delhi. Photos from bus windows are never wholly successful so what follows is just a couple of postings about the one stop that we made at the house where Gandhi resided when in Delhi and where he was assassinated.
I don’t think you need me to tell you about Gandhi and since I do not have access to any accurate facts about his life I will restrict what I say here to a minimum.
According to the New Oxford Dictionary on my Kindle - Mahatma Gandhi – (1868 – 1948) – Indian nationalist and spiritual leader became prominent in the opposition to British rule in India, pursuing a policy of non-violent civil disobedience. Although he never held an office in the Government he was regarded as the country’s supreme political and spiritual leader. A Hindu fanatic assassinated him in 1948 following his agreement to the creation of the State of Pakistan.
Gandhi studied law and became a barrister in Britain before taking up a post in South Africa. He was insensed and embittered by an incident when a white passenger requested that he be removed from a ‘whites’ only’ carriage in South Africa. His mission was to have a united India with Hindus and Muslims leaving in peace and harmony together. In seeking to achieve this ideal Gandhi was expert at selecting issues about which to protest in non-violent ways – mainly by fasting and marching. One of the earliest issues was the imposition of a ‘salt tax’ by the British and since India is a hot country and people perspire a lot salt is essential to health and well being. A salt tax hit the poorest hardest by denying them access to this vital chemical substance.
There were many other issues of course and the history of India leading up to Independence is full of incidents, violence and intrigue which as I have said I think it best for you to look up and read about yourself. In the final analysis the key issue that required a solution was who should retain the area in NE India known as Kashmir – India or the state of Pakistan set up post partition in 1947. The outcome as they say is ‘history’ but to this day India robustly defends its rights to Kashmir against Pakistan and the bitter dispute continues with bombs in many Indian cities including one today (21st Feb) in Hyderabad (a city in which we had touched down on our flight to Delhi – leading to heighted security as we travelled around Mumbai the following morning with many more police and armoured cars patrolling the streets – and the terrorist attack on top hotels such as the Taj Mahal Palace in Mumbai in 2010(?). More of that later, however, since we were to stay overnight tonight at this hotel.
Gandhi, much against his wishes, eventually agreed to the partition of northern India into West and East Pakistan as a compromise for retaining Kashmir and was bitterly disappointed that his ideal of a united India had failed although of course he had succeeded in gaining Independence from British rule.
There was at this house a 200-metre long poster display explaining in far too much detail the whole of Gandhi’s life and the major incidents in the fight for Independence. Fascinating and informative as this display was with only 20 minutes one could not do justice to it let alone remember any detail – well that’s my excuse anyway.
This photo shows the door from which Gandhi emerged each day in order to meditate in the gardens of this house. The route has been marked with these footprints.
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