Statues of Gandhi are being vandalized in NYC

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Educate me: what is the motivation here and back in India? WaPo has a story on the front page but it is behind a paywall. I’ve been catching bits and pieces but don’t fully understand.

Gandhi’s assassin Nathuram Godse was a member of the militant Hindu organization called Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). That was the precursor of today’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which is currently India’s ruling party. There has been a resurgence of Hindu nationalism in India in recent years. They do not like Gandhi as they think he was too conciliatory towards Muslims.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Gandhi is a much more controversial figure in India vs in the West. He is not well regarded by racial and religious minorities because, while he kicked out the Brits, he was instrumental in reinforcing a rigid caste system that essentially put upper class Indians in the place of Brits.

His political legacy is also a subject of controversy as his family name continues as a political dynasty even as they become increasingly distant from India. Sonia Gandhi cant even speak Hindi fluently.

Duh! I hope I misunderstood you as you spoke so fluently about Gandhi.

The one Americans know (you know, from the movie) is not related to Indira Gandhi and there fore the Gandhi dynasty. Maybe you are thinking Nehru?

Haha, right. I thought that comment was pretty uninformed. And no, Sonia Gandhi, who grew up in Italy and met Rajiv Gandhi in Cambridge, does not speak Hindi fluently.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Gandhi is a much more controversial figure in India vs in the West. He is not well regarded by racial and religious minorities because, while he kicked out the Brits, he was instrumental in reinforcing a rigid caste system that essentially put upper class Indians in the place of Brits.

His political legacy is also a subject of controversy as his family name continues as a political dynasty even as they become increasingly distant from India. Sonia Gandhi cant even speak Hindi fluently.

Duh! I hope I misunderstood you as you spoke so fluently about Gandhi.

The one Americans know (you know, from the movie) is not related to Indira Gandhi and there fore the Gandhi dynasty. Maybe you are thinking Nehru?

While you are correct that the Nehrus are not blood related to Mahatma. It is nevertheless ALSO true that they use this surname and have had a political dynasty under the Gandhi name. And, they are absolutely guilty of creating the illusion of familial connection to Mahatma. From a political standpoint, it is very difficult to extract his legacy from the Nehru family.

It didn’t come out of nowhere . Indira Nehru married a man who was born Feroze Ghandy. He changed his name to Gandhi after being inspired by the Mahatma. It just turned out to also be a politically astute move.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Educate me: what is the motivation here and back in India? WaPo has a story on the front page but it is behind a paywall. I’ve been catching bits and pieces but don’t fully understand.

Gandhi’s assassin Nathuram Godse was a member of the militant Hindu organization called Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). That was the precursor of today’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which is currently India’s ruling party. There has been a resurgence of Hindu nationalism in India in recent years. They do not like Gandhi as they think he was too conciliatory towards Muslims.

Khaki shorts going to khaki shorts.