As the curtains fall on 2023 G20 New Delhi Summit, there’s a lot to be proud of, for India as a country. Hosting the eighteenth meeting of G20 was important for the country to showcase its importance and role in international relations. Although the ‘Delhi Declaration’ was a pivotal outcome of this conference, the meeting has sent another message to the entire world which is very important for Indians.
On the morning of second day of the Summit, all the world leaders including US President Joe Biden and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak paid their homage to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat which was a sight to behold. All the world leaders of the leading countries bowed down to Mahatma at once, a scene as rare as diamond in the rough. Apart from Indians, citizens of many other countries witnessed this incident too. Some of the people in India who turn up their noses after hearing Gandhi’s name should understand and accept the significance of this and contemplate their thought process. An undisputed leader in front of whom every Indian should bow their head is Mahatma Gandhi.
The world knows India as a Gandhiji’s country and G20 Summit proved just that. However, it is unfortunate that some people from India itself do not respect Gandhiji. Indeed, these people are far and few but they run their campaign in a disciplined manner to defame Gandhiji’s name. Some people have even gone to the extent of praising Gandhiji’s killer Nathuram Godse. They have openly supported Godse’s killing of Gandhi. This is nothing but backing a criminal and glorifying his crime which is simply wrong on many levels. A few days ago, someone narrated an entirely different story about Gandhiji’s birth to defame his name in Maharashtra which caused a huge controversy. The people of this wicked ideology perform these illogical stunts all over the country once in a while.
A while ago Godse’s image was carried in a Ram Navmi procession in Hyderabad. What precisely was the intention behind this? Gandhiji led an entire nation to its freedom. His stature increased due to his ‘revolutionary’ movements which forced British to leave India. Gandhiji was the first one to initiate a movement against racism in South Africa. His movements of Champaran and Kheda Satyagraha, Khilafat movement and non-cooperation movement where Gandhiji appealed people to boycott foreign goods, government colleges and government courts received tremendous support from the Indian people. Later on Civil Disobedience Movement, Dandi March and finally, Quit India Movement of 1942 were some of the major revolutionary protests led by Gandhiji.
Throughout his life, Gandhiji promoted non-violence. Of course, many other leaders then contributed immensely as per their calibre in these nationwide protests which include Pandit Nehru, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Subhash Chandra Bose and countless more. Pandit Nehru became independent India’s first Prime Minister while Patel became its Home Minister. This proves that these two were the most important leaders after Gandhiji. All the leaders including Nehru and Patel respected Gandhiji and treated his words to be the final. Gandhiji is famously known as Father of the Nation, a honorific title bestowed upon him by Subhash Chandra Bose.
Netaji Bose during his Rangoon Radio broadcast had mentioned the title for the first time. Afterwards Pandit Nehru while announcing his death had called him ‘Father of India’. Gandhiji wasn’t served this respect on a silver platter and had done unimaginable work to attain such a stature. Gandhiji was revered by the British as well. Gandhiji was invited for England’s former queen late Queen Elizabeth II’s wedding where he had gifted her a handkerchief. The Queen had carefully preserved this gift and till her demise last year, her meeting with Gandhiji had resurfaced in discussions. Gandhiji gave the country freedom through non-violent movements. Non-cooperation, boycott, hunger strike and non-violence are the weapons gifted by Gandhiji not only to India but to the entire world. Today, these are the very weapons used by commoners whenever they have to fight their governments. Despite such an unbelievable contribution, Gandhiji has never been awarded a Nobel Peace Prize. G20 Summit has underlined Gandhiji’s everlasting influence on world level once again and he should be taken into consideration for Nobel Peace Prize.
