Nothing happened in India 100 years back

[In some contexts, Gandhi still remains supremely relevant. There is little doubt, for instance, that the Palestinian cause would have succeeded far more if it had taken a Gandhian turn. His manner of constructing a fearless and inventive self remains supremely instructive. As the first genius to master mass politics, he remains, to use the defining aspiration of our times, cool. -- Why Bapu matters Pratap Bhanu Mehta Indian Express: Wednesday, January 30, 2008 The writer is president, Centre for Policy Research pratapbmehta@yahoo.co.in] 7:29 AM

[Despite his lifelong interest in religious pluralism, Gandhi had not the leisure to work out a systematic treatise on the subject. -- His faith, our faith History Matters Ramachandra GuhaEmail Author HT January 30, 2008 Ramachandra Guha Historian and author of India After Gandhi] 8:05 AM

Columnists, commentators, and historians straddling our national newspapers continue to pretend that nothing happened 100 years back. For them, India before Gandhi is a sort of a Dark Age. All attempts then for the liberation of the country from the foreign rulers are contaminated, and hence not to be discussed.

Sri Aurobindo is fighting a grim battle at this hour in 1908 through his stirring speeches and writings in the Bande Mataram. But even our versatile bloggers are silent about them. Sri Aurobindo will be put in the jail for one year in May. Can’t there be a commemoration at a national scale? [TNM]