Hate has become official creed of India: Tushar Gandhi

Kozhikode: It is the silence of people and failure to stand up to the forces of intolerance that has led the forces of hate to hijack the country, said Tushar Gandhi, great grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, on Friday.

Inaugurating a two-day national seminar “India against Intolerance” organized by the Mohammed Abdurahiman Chair for Secular Studies of University of Calicut, Gandhi said that people of India have become like the famed three monkeys of Mahatma Gandhi by adopting the stand of shutting their eyes when injustice is going on, plugging their ears if somebody called for help and by not opening their mouth against injustice and malpractices.

“This is what we have interpreted the monkeys to be,” he said.

He said slowly the image of India is changing in the world, from Gandhi’s India to Godse’s India, adding that 75 years is a short time for the identity of a nation to change.

“The Prime Minister is only wrong in saying the world came to know about Gandhi after the Richard Attenborough film. What he should have said is that the world has started forgetting Gandhi since 2014. Because that is when hate became the official creed of India. Because that is when intolerance became the official creed of India.

Gandhi said people should think why are Muslims, after having chosen to stay back, still asked to prove their patriotism even 75 years after Independence.

“Indian Muslims lived in this country for over 75 years, having chosen in 1947 to accept this country as their own motherland and not having gone to Pakistan. Why do we continuously ask them to prove their love for this country?” he asked.

Mullasery Sivaraman Nair, coordinator of the Chair presided, while politician and filmmaker Aryadan Shaukat delivered the welcome address. Doyen of Indian cinema, Saeed Akhtar Mirza, was the chief guest. Syndicate member T J Martin offered felicitations, and Riyas Mukkoli delivered the vote of thanks.