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Even loyal Gandhians were struck by the depth of reverence in the tributes paid to the Father of the Nation at the international satyagraha conference last week. The most touching came from former Zambian president Kenneth Kaunda, who couldn’t hold back his tears when he visited Gandhi Smriti on January 30, the day Bapu was assassinated. His eyes brimmed over as he burst into a song in praise of Gandhi, sung in his native dialect. When he finished, he wanted to be shown to the room used by Gandhi and asked to be left there alone to feel his spirit. Before departing, he insisted on ringing the peace gong gifted by the Indonesian government to the Smriti as a mark of its respect for the man who guided India’s independence struggle.

Kaunda, of course, has repeatedly acknowledged the influence of Gandhian thought on his politics and the struggle he launched for Zambia’s freedom. But what was striking about the two-day event was the international spread Gandhi’s political philosophy enjoys today, almost 60 years after his death. The conference had delegates from 88 countries as diverse as Syria and Costa Rica. It was almost like a NAM meet and left one wondering whether the political space for a Third World grouping is really over, as is commonly believed. The conference even attracted a sprinkling of representatives from the First World, including the United States, Australia and Japan, and from China, underlining the widespread curiosity and interest in Gandhi.

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Oldtimers in the Congress saw shades of Indira Gandhi in the meticulous attention Sonia Gandhi paid to every detail that went into organising the biggest show the party has held in a long time. Forty eight hours before the conference began, she turned up at the conference venue, Vigyan Bhavan, for a rigorous inspection tour that had the organising committee gasping. She even went into the toilets and kitchen and was horrified at the filth and smell. Obviously, no-one has bothered to maintain this grand building that Jawaharlal Nehru had constructed in 1956 as India’s premiere conference hall. There were stains on the carpets, the paintings on the wall were damaged, the wood panelling was full of dust. And when Gandhi saw the plastic flowers adorning the stage, she blew a fuse. The organisers were ordered to hire an army of elves, which worked night and day to wash, clean and air the place. Gandhi insisted on visiting the venue three to four times a day to ensure that the final result met her high standards of cleanliness and elegance. Congress circles confessed that they hadn’t been put through this kind of rigour since Indira Gandhi’s days.

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What marred an otherwise successful conference was the controversy over the decision to exclude the opposition parties from this homage to Gandhi. In its effort to retain exclusive claim to the man known as the Father of the Nation, the Congress did not send invitations to senior leaders of the NDA although its UPA partners and the Left were on the guest list. Several foreign delegates expressed surprise at the omission, particularly since opposition leaders from other countries like Sri Lanka and Mauritius, to name a few, were present. The omission was all the more glaring because although the conference was supposed to be a party affair, the Congress used the services of the Ministry of External Affairs to look after the VIP delegates. Perhaps lessons in Gandhigiri should begin at home.

Email: a_jerath@dnaindia.net