Gandhi’s rebranding by Hindu nationalists
From our UK edition
Three quarters of a century after his death, Mahatma Gandhi is still everywhere in India: from statues that welcome visitors at airports to currency, state memorials, street names, commemorative institutions and hospitals, art galleries, political campaign posters, and various forms of popular art. This month – as India marks his 154th birthday – it was harder than ever to escape Gandhi. But it isn’t only Gandhi’s image that lingers. Affectionately dubbed bapu (father) by his followers, Gandhi’s values have served as the centre of India’s moral consciousness since the nation’s inception. But his principles have been used and abused by competing groups, particularly egregiously by Hindu nationalists.
