FULL TEXT: 'Not in Gandhiji's name,' says Mahatma Gandhi's great grandson to Gopalkrishna Gandhi

The Opposition Vice-Presidential candidate Gopalkrishna Gandhi's nephew Shrikrishna Kulkarni has written a letter to him registering protest against his candidature. While Gopalkrishna Gandhi​ is the grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, ​Srikrishna Kulkarni is Mahatma Gandhi's great grandson.

My dear Gopu mama,

At the onset, I want to congratulate you on being a candidate for the post of the Vice President of India. While one part of me is very happy for you – as this is a step in the direction of you realizing your long standing political ambition, the other part of me – the “citizen common man”, is once again dismayed by your choice of whom you offered your candidature to.

One of your grandfathers and one of my great grandfathers, happens to be the same man – Mohandas K. Gandhi. We therefore share a common heritage. It is this common heritage that made me agonize and hesitate for the past one week in writing this open letter to you. But in the end, I do feel it is important that I put down my views in the public domain. The only reason for me to write an open letter is that you are now a candidate for a public position and have offered yourself to be the nominee of 18 Opposition parties. The prime among them is the Congress (I). As the Vice President is the second highest constitutional public figure, it is best that I, a common man, share my thoughts publicly. Although my views have no impact on the “electoral college” that elects the Vice President of Indian, I must try and be fearless and request your indulgence in allowing me to say it as I see it.

Whatever little I have got to know about what prompted your candidature, I have gleaned from the print and TV media. In your own words you have expressed the following to the media:

1. “The prevailing situation in the country could spell danger. We are living in times of division. A whole force which is dividing the country is in action mode. This spells danger for our future, not only for politics, but for the nation as well. You go on to add, Janta aur rajneeti ke beech ek khaai bani huyi hai, main use kam karna chahta hoon (there is a chasm, a gulf between people and politics, I want to reduce that gap).”

2. “I see myself as citizen candidate, a citizen weighed down by anxieties and even fears about our collective future,”

3. “People’s faith in politics has diminished and collapsed. I would like to see a revival of that faith.”

4. “Gopal Gandhi said his nomination should not be seen as directed against anybody but as aimed at bridging the gulf between people and politics.”

5. “My views are inspired by Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar.”

From January 2015 to April 2016, I had the opportunity to walk on foot from Kanyakumari to Srinagar. Over these 16 months, I got to experience this nation one step at a time.

1. For the first time in my memory, I sense a massive up swell in the feeling of national pride among the citizens who live in our villages, towns and cities. I myself can feel it. A large majority of the many I met also feel so. I therefore believe it is so. There is a ground swell of support to the present government and it seems to cut across
geographic, economic, religious and caste based strata. Gandhiji our ancestor was known for his honesty and unambiguous views. Your comment about “a whole force
which is dividing the country is in action mode”, is ambiguous and very corrosive in its ambiguity. What force are you referring to? Why are you so purposefully ambiguous?
Can ambiguity in matters of national importance ever win trust and ever revive faith?

2. Yes, we the common citizens of this country are anxious about our collective future. What we fear most is the extent to which our political representatives have till now
played on our differences (vote bank politics to be precise), so that they can selfishly secure their ambitions. The present tendency towards unification among the Hindus
(the most fractured, the most taken for granted and the most neglected denomination in our nation) is very welcome. They are the largest demographic denomination. The
fractured state and the self-effacing, almost apologetic nature of this majority community has been the grist to the mill of the politicians till now. If, we can achieve
unity even in part amongst them, the path for fundamental development of this nation would be so much easier. Any honest leader, who wants India to progress must try to
unify this fractured denomination first. The anxiety of our collective future is what is bringing us together. The plurality of this nation – the bedrock of its secular ethos are
enshrined in the Vedas, the Upanishads and the Bhagawat Geeta. This nation endures because of this ancient ethos and not just because of the 42nd amendment to the
Constitution of India. I feel no shame and no fear in asserting this. Just as an example, “Sarve bhavantu sukhinah…” from the Brihadaaranyaka Upanishad, proclaims
happiness for all and not just any one denomination. This must be clearly understood. There is no point protecting a nation, if we cannot protect our values and our culture.
You have chosen to be a nominee of those who have divided us as a rule. Why? The Congress (I) can easily articulate what they mean to the “minorities”. I wonder if they
have a clue of what they mean to the “majority?” Both are no less important.

3. Yes, you are right, our (we the common citizens) faith in politics has diminished. Why? Because over the years, politics became a career. Dynastic succession became the
norm. Political parties are mostly family owned. Honesty, public service, ideology and self-sacrifice, the essence of leadership qualities play no role. Rather sycophancy;
corruption (both intellectual and economic), and personal ambition take centre stage. The quality of a nation is decided by the quality of the questions it is willing to ask, and more
importantly by the quality of answers it is willing to accept. I believe that Gandhiji erred when he brushed aside the candidature of Sadar Patel for the
first Prime Minister of India and bequeathed (quite literally and against his own principles and against the wishes of Congressmen), the new born nation to Pandit Nehru. That one mistake has cost the nation dearly. The progeny of Pandit Nehru have made a mockery of all that Gandhiji stood for in his living life. Even the fiercest critics of Gandhiji will not deny that Gandhiji opposed entitlements due to birth. Generations of his family (we) are a testimony to this core belief.

The present day Gandhi family, as the progeny of Nehru are popularly known (in the media) have re-institutionalized dynastic succession. Their advent has systematically eroded the political landscape of India – the soul of India was slowly being ripped out. The present President of the Congress Party has been in position for 18 years since 1998. Her son (5th generation of Nehru dynasty, starting from Motilal Nehru) is in line for succession. And of all the people in this nation, you choose to offer yourself to be their candidate? I saw with dismay the TV images of you, going to file your nomination for the Vice President – flanked by this family of dynastic politics. In that one instant you tore apart the principles you espouse – those of Mahatma Gandhi or Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar, both of who were fearless and selfless leaders and who were dead against entitlements of birth. Today’s TV reports the heir apparent, Rahul Gandhi’s arrogant comment on the Bofors scandal. My great grandfather, Gandhiji would have submitted himself to a public scrutiny and removed himself from any position of power or influence in the interim. What a stark contrast? This family doesn’t deserve to be linked with anything to do with Gandhiji or his principles. At this rate, I wonder how you will ever be able to achieve your avowed aim of bridging the gulf between people and politics.

So many scandals over so many years, and not a single comment from you. Do you really believe all these are political vendetta? Do you really believe the citizens are fools? But you still went ahead and have endorsed them. But as one small member of Gandhiji’s large family, I must register my protest. And therefore I say – NOT IN GANDHIJIS NAME!
I am sorry Gopu mama, but this decision of yours doesn’t build confidence, at least not in me. Rather it is confidence betrayal (as they say in Tamil – Nampikkai Throgam)!

My affection for you remains undiminished. I wish you Good luck in your quest for being VP. With my love and pranams, I remain,

Yours very truly,
Krish
(Shrikrishna Kulkarni)
Bangalore, July 25th, 2017

P.S. I am putting this letter on social media so that I can share my views with other citizens of this nation.