Un-Gandhian makeover: Proposal to redevelop Sabarmati Ashram invites criticism

When Mahatma Gandhi decided to establish an ashram on the banks of the Sabarmati river in 1917, historians say, he intended it to serve as a place to launch the freedom movement and introduce efforts in attaining self-sufficiency. In August, the government announced that it would spend Rs.1,200 crore on a Gandhi Ashram Memorial and Precinct Development Project and that work to reclaim encroached land as part of the project would begin immediately. Moreover, any change in Gandhi’s ashram that is carried out by a dispensation so close to the RSS is not a good idea.” Trustees’ response In response to the statement and the outrage in the media, the Sabarmati Ashram Preservation and Memorial Trust issued a media release, saying: “The trustees of the SAPMT have noted and share many of the concerns expressed by several citizens regarding the future of the Sabarmati Ashram and its precincts..The trustees are committed to ensuring that the ethos and values, which this space has communicated to the world for all these years, is to be protected and enhanced. Including our government.” Writing in a national daily, Gandhian scholars Thomas Weber, Charles DiSalvo and Dennis Dalton said: “Having had the privilege to work in the archives of the Sabarmati Ashram it is the most important repository of the correspondence to and from Gandhi.” According to them, the “potential Disneyesque Gandhi theme park may be popular among those wanting to take a selfie and tick a bucket-list box. When Gandhi was asked why he did not visit America, he expressed the fear that people would come to see him out of idle curiosity: ‘Let’s see this animal in the Indian zoo.’ He wanted those who had an interest in him to really understand what he was trying to do and invited them to come to the ashram and make a detailed study of his teachings.” Reviving Sabarmati The redevelopment project was cleverly floated in 2019, during the 150th anniversary of Gandhi’s birth.