United Nations Organisation was lowered to half-mast. For the first time, the UN had set aside a day’s session to honour the man just murdered in Delhi

On January 30, 1948, the flag of the United Nations Organisation was lowered to half-mast. For the first time, the UN had set aside a day’s session to honour the man just murdered in Delhi. “Not the head of a state, a general or a king, but a lone man who without an army, riches, or political alliances, has been called the most powerful man of the 20th century. Who was this man that all the world should mourn over?” — Encyclopedia Britannica’s documentary on Gandhi begins with this description. Gandhi’s greatness is universal. For Gandhians, he is an eternal inspiration. Gandhi never hated anybody, but some Gandhians do. Incidentally, for those whom Gandhians hate, too, Gandhi is iconic. For, Gandhi fits into all shapes and sizes. His legacy can be appropriated by anyone. As is famously said of leaders, Gandhi too can be “loved or hated but not ignored”.

Gandhi had optimistically predicted that he could be killed but not his Gandhism. Seventy-two years after his death, Gandhism remains, but it is largely about externals. Cleanliness, khadi, cow protection and swadeshi became chic in Gandhi’s name. Gandhi emerged as a “trendy fashion icon”. These are not unimportant. But Gandhism is much more than these externals.

Gandhi’s core message was about freedom, which Tagore described in his poem as “where the mind is without fear”. Enlightenment thinkers emphasised on human freedom from the material standpoint. Gandhi gave this a spiritual dimension. From South Africa to India, Gandhi relentlessly fought for freedom and equality. He aligned freedom with responsibility and equality with dignity and love. “I am not interested in freeing India from merely English yoke. I am bent on freeing India from any yoke whatsoever”, Gandhi declared. Biographer Louis Fischer quipped that the Englishman who pushed Gandhi out of the railway carriage in South Africa didn’t realise that in a few decades, the same fragile man would push the English Raj out of India.