Relax. Icons can err too

Thank God good sense prevailed on Union law minister M. Veerappa Moily as he decided not to ban Great Soul: Mahatma Gandhi and His Struggle with India written by Joseph Lelyveld, the former New York Times editor. Having spouted furious condemnation about the book (without having read it) and even considering an anti-blasphemy law protecting the Mahatma’s memory from desecration, Mr Moily had second thoughts or has been persuaded by higher powers to change his mind.

A welcome move, which we can only hope that the chief ministers of Gujarat and Maharashtra will follow. To even allow this sort of constant suppression of literature and art by both the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress ruled states makes one wonder what kind of country we aspire to be. Is this India, a thriving opinionated democracy? Or is this China where you can be jailed by the thought police?
For far too long we have suffered from biased and sycophantic biographers and historians who prefer to apply a liberal dose of whitewash to everything we get to read, especially about politicians. And the reason behind their fearful accounts is obvious: if they were to publish the truth, their careers may be destroyed, the books may be banned or access may be denied forever to the powers that be.
Thus, often we have to turn to historians abroad to get another point of view. No matter what the source, at least this nurtures a plurality of thought. However, the current fracas reveals an overwhelming fear. What if the icons we worship were found to be human after all? What if they had human failings and were occasionally, even politically incorrect? The immediate reaction is to shoot the messenger.
But the nonchalant answer to all this brouhaha should be “so what?” The strangest part in this controversy is that it concerns Mahatma Gandhi, who had maintained a transparency between his public and private life. He had put everything about himself, his family life, his sexual thoughts, even about the state of his stools into the public domain, along with his political agenda. In fact, were he alive today he would be blogging and tweeting 24x7. He would tweet about what was happening to and around him.
His own experiments with truth, with his body and mind are well recorded (by him) and certainly, even this new “accusation” that he was bisexual would have possibly intrigued him, but never angered or upset him. He was a modern man, curious and adventurous. And his answer would probably have been: “let’s take out those letters and look at them, and let me re-examine my own relationship”. Why not? He had the courage of integrity and conviction.
Lelyveld has now been forced into saying that he has not mentioned anything about bisexuality or racism in his book. But, the Mahatma would have surely replied: “Let’s talk about it anyway. What is sexuality, and what is bisexuality? And how do you define racism?”
Quite amusingly, while Narendra Modi, Ashok Chavan and Mr Moily are all gnashing their teeth over this insult to the Mahatma, at the other end of the spectrum are so-called liberals who are aghast that Lelyveld has not understood the special asexual relationship men from the subcontinent often share with each other. Both point of views are equally ridiculous because obviously, none of the current dramatis personae were present when the Mahatma was interacting with his German friend Hermann Kallenbach. All that Lelyveld has done is presented a series of facts before us with some quotations from people he has interviewed.
The interpretation of these is up to us but we have no right to impose that opinion on anyone else. Even if he has referred to the relationship as being homoerotic, would that distort the fact that Mahatma Gandhi was able to change the history of India? And as for reviewers? Well, by sensationalising it, the tabloid concerned may have helped to actually sell more copies of the book.

On a sadder note, according to the latest census report, once again there is a decline in the sex ratio of children between the ages of zero to six; with around 914 girls for 1,000 boys. Is it time to stop congratulating ourselves about how well we are doing and wake up? Obviously, this indicates rampant sex selection and the continuing failure of government policies to reverse the trend.
Nothing will shake up our patriarchal system unless women are given a completely equal social, economic and political status, alongside men. This is well known the world over and other governments are working towards it, with positive measures, such as quotas and reservations.
One wonders why the Indian government cannot, instead of a caste-based quota, introduce universal gender-based quotas for girls at all levels, right from primary school onwards up to reservations for jobs. Too much time has already been wasted. And now there should be some urgency before millions of more infant girls die.

Meanwhile, on an interesting evening in Delhi, one listened to the controversial pit bull mom, Sarah Palin, the former governor of Alaska. Even though I disagreed with much of what she had to say at the India Today Conclave, I was impressed with her optimism both about America’s future and herself. She even highlights the fact that she is a mother and a wife and that she writes her speeches on her kitchen table, speaking with a simplicity that sometimes borders on caricature.
She is a completely unique American women politician. While others aspire for intellectual credentials she abjures sounding too smart or too clever. And yet, I have to say that there were many in the room who nodded in agreement with her views on small government and low tax regimes… But would she stand for presidency again? Ms Palin left us guessing.

Kishwar Desai can be contacted at kishwardesai@yahoo.com