White Paper on Gandhi Peace Prize 2021

White Paper on Gandhi  Peace Prize 2021

 

 About Gandhi Peace Prize

 

Gandhi Peace Prize is an annual award instituted by Government of India in 1995, on the occasion of 125^th Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi as a tribute to the ideals espoused by Mahatma Gandhi. The award is open to all persons regardless of nationality, race, language, caste, creed or gender. An association, institution or organization shall also be eligible for the award. The award is given for social, economic and political transformation through non-violence and other Gandhian methods. The award may be made  to a person who has worked selflessly for peace, nonviolence and amelioration of human sufferings particularly of the less-privileged section of society contributing towards social justice and harmony irrespective of whether he holds a high public office or not. Only achievements within 10 years immediately preceding the nomination are considered for the award; an older work may, however, be considered if its significance has not become apparent until recently. A written work in order to be eligible for consideration for the Award shall have been published. The multilingual (both Hindi and English) scanned copy of the hand book of   code of procedure consisting of 8 chapters is available on the website of the Ministry of Culture. Every year the Ministry of Culture invites applications from eminent persons and institutions for consideration. According to amended section 4 Chapter IV vide order F.No. 19-1- 2021-GHSM dated 19 March 2021 of code of procedure, the Jury can also make a suo-moto nomination. The jury shall compromise five members i.e. The Prime Minister of India (Chair) the Chief Justice of India, the leader of Opposition and two other prominent members. The award carries an amount of Rs. 1 crore, a citation, a plaque and an exquisite traditional handicraft/handloom item.

Gandhi Peace Prize Awardees

Gandhi Peace Prize Awardees List   from 1995 to 2020 is as follows: Dr.Julius K.Nyerere, former President of Tanzania (1995), Dr. A.T. Ariyaratne, Founder President of Sarvodaya Sharamadana Movement, Sri Lanka(1996),  Dr. Gerhard Fischer, Germany (1997) RamaKrishna Mission, India (1998) Baba Amte (Murlidhar Devidas Amte), India (1999) Dr. Nelson Mandela, South Africa, and Grameen Bank of Bangladesh, Bangladesh (jointly) (2000) Dr. John Hume, Ireland (2001) Bhartiya Vidya Bhawan, India (2002) Mr. Vaclav Havel, former President of Czechoslovakia (2003)  Archbishop Desmond Tutu, South Africa (2005)  Shri Chandi Prasad Bhatt, India (2013) Indian Space Research Organisation, India (2014) Vivekananda Kendra, India (2015) Akshaya Patra Foundation, India and Sulabh International (Jointly) (2016)  Ekal Abhiyan Trust, India(2017)  Shri Yohei Sasakawa, Japan(2018)  Sultan Qaboos Bin Said Al Said (2019 ) Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (2020)

Announcement of Gandhi Peace Prize for 2021

According to the Press release of Ministry of Culture issued on 18 June 2023  by PIB, Delhi     Gandhi Peace Prize for 2021 to be conferred on Gita Press, Gorakhpur.  The Press release states that “ the Jury headed by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, after due deliberations on 18^th June, 2023 unanimously decided to select Gita Press, Gorakhpur as the recipient of the Gandhi Peace Prize for the year 2021, in recognition of its outstanding contribution towards social, economic and political transformation through non-violent and other Gandhian methods.” It gives the description of Gita Press as follows: “ Established in 1923, Gita Press is one of the world’s largest publishers, having published 41.7 crore books in 14 languages, including 16.21 crore Shrimad Bhagvad Gita. The institution has never relied on advertisement in its publications, for revenue generation. Gita Press along with its affiliated organizations, strives for the betterment of life and the well being of all.” It further states that “Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi recalled the contribution of Gita Press, in promoting the Gandhian ideals of peace and social harmony. He observed that the conferment of Gandhi Peace Prize on Gita Press, on completion of hundred years of its establishment, is recognition of the work done by the institution in community service.   The press release concludes with the following statement.  “Gandhi Peace Prize 2021 recognizes the important and unparalleled contribution of Gita Press, in contributing to collective upliftment of humanity, which personifies Gandhian living in true sense.”

Controversy

A detailed scrutiny of the profile of individuals and institutions of the list of awardees creates an impression whether the code of procedure is strictly followed or not in the case of all awardees.  According to Chapter VI clause 10 decisions of the Jury shall not be subject to confirmation by any other authority and no appeal or protest can be made against them.  However, the announcement of 2021 has been subjected to criticism and protest  against the decision.  The most strong criticism came from Jairam Ramesh ,  senior leader  of the  Congress Party.  He wrote in his Twitter   “The Gandhi Peace Prize for 2021 has been conferred on the Gita Press at Gorakhpur which is celebrating its centenary this year. There is a very fine biography from 2015 of this organisation by Akshaya Mukul in which he unearths the stormy relations it had with the Mahatma and the running battles it carried on with him on his political, religious & social agenda. The decision is really a travesty and is like awarding Savarkar and Godse.” He also tweeted the cover page of the book  Gita Press and the Making of Hindu India . Responding to it Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma wrote:  “With the win in Karnataka, Congress has now openly unleashed a war against India's civilisational values and rich legacy, be it in the form of repeal of anti-conversion law or criticism against Geeta Press. People of India will resist this aggression and reassert our civilisation values with equal aggression.”   It leads to a war of words   between BJP and Congress.  In the meantime, the leader of the opposition made an allegation that he was not informed about the jury meeting and later the Ministry of Culture clarified that information about the meeting was conveyed to him. In the light of these developments it is necessary to throw light on controversies and misconceptions about various aspects related to it. 

 Whether Gita Press is engaged in Gandhian Work ?

The first question is whether Gita Press is engaged in Gandhian Work. We will get the answer from its website.

 “Gita Press is a unit of Gobind Bhawan Karyalaya registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 (presently governed by the West Bengal Societies Act, 1960). The institution’s main objective is to promote and spread the principles of Sanatana Dharma, the Hindu religion among the general public by publishing Gita, Ramayana, Upanishads, Puranas, Discourses of eminent Saints and other character-building books & magazines and marketing them at highly subsidised prices. The institution strives for the betterment of life and the well-being of all. It aims to promote the art of living as propounded in the Gita for peace & happiness and the ultimate upliftment of mankind. The founder, Brahmalina Shri Jayadayalji Goyandka, was a staunch devotee and an exalted soul. He was much given to the Gita as the panacea for mankind’s plight and began publishing it and other Hindu scriptures to spread good intent and good thought amongst all. The Governing Council (Trust Board) manages the institution. The institution neither solicits donations nor accepts advertisements in its publications. The deficit is met by the surplus from other departments of the society which render services at reasonable cost, in accordance with the objects of the society. In the Gita Press, the day starts with a morning prayer. A person roams around throughout the day to remind the name of God to each worker several times. Gita Press archives contain over 3,500 manuscripts including over 100 interpretations of the Bhagwad Gita.Choose from over 3000+ online collections with new additions of Kalyan published every month. Flexible reading with set of languages available for each book.”

  It is clear from the website that there is no claim of social, economic and political transformation through non-violence and other Gandhian methods as cited in the code of procedure of Gandhi Peace Prize.  On the contrary it states that the institution’s main objective is to promote and spread the principles of Sanatana Dharma, the Hindu religion among the general public through publishing the religious texts.

Is Award a donation?

 In the midst of controversy the Gita Press said “it was a matter of great honour to be conferred the Gandhi Peace Prize, but the publisher would not accept the cash component of the award keeping with its tradition of not receiving any kind of donations.” The question here is why Gita Press considered it a donation? It appears  that  the statement  from Gita Press  is to mollify the criticism against conferring the award.

Relation between Founder editor of Gita Press and Gandhi

 

Hanuman Prasad Poddar, the founder editor of Gita Press and Kalayan , was close to  Jamnalal Bajaj and Gandhi.  Even the inaugural issue of Kalyan  carried an excerpt of M.K. Gandhi's article from Navjivan  The subsequent issues also Gandhi’s write ups were published. The relationship between Poddar and Gandhi had deepened during 1932 when Poddar  took care of Gandhi’s son Devadas who was in Gorakhpur jail.  The same year also marked a turning point in the relationship between the two. G.D. Birla conveyed news of Gandhi’s fast and the subsequent Poona Pact Poddar who was in his native Ratangarh . He  wrote a long letter to Gandhi  in which  he extracted a series of Gandhi's writings on caste and untouchability that appeared in Navjivan in the early 1920s.  He   raised a number of questions and sought Gandhi’s advice. Inter alia Poddar   wrote “I know you do not believe in changing someone’s view or belief system through force. You have said so many times that an individual should have the freedom of religion. But what is happening? Letting all kinds of people enter places of worship against the wishes of those who run these institutions is against the spirit of freedom of religion or not? It would destroy our temple system. Have we asked if those being let inside the temples even want to go there or not? If they want, why not build separate temples for them. After all, Rama went to the hut of Sabri. But I guess the entire issue is about rights.”

 Gandhi in his reply on November 5, 1932 wrote “I still stand by my statements which you have quoted from Navajivan. To understand what I say one needs to understand my conduct for I try to avoid saying anything that contradicts my conduct and doing anything contrary to what I say. And I admit my own weakness whenever my conduct is inconsistent with the opinion I express. Here I do not see any inconsistency between my profession and my conduct.”

 Gandhi further wrote: Those who taunt and slander sanatanists commit himsa and undoubtedly injure the cause of the removal of untouchability. This whole work is purely religious and should be performed in a religious spirit. Those sanatanists who see untouchability as a part of religion should not be subjected to attacks of any kind. They have as much right to stand firm on their belief as we have to stand on ours. Even in inter-dining, cleanliness and some code of conduct are always desirable. It is a sin to use coercion in this matter or to despise those who refuse to inter-dine. Similarly to force one’s way into the temples against the wishes of the trustees is an act of sin. And even if the Harijans should manage to enter the temples in this manner and some Hindus should inter-dine with them, I would never accept it as removal of untouchability. Rather than be a witness to such reform I would prefer death, because I am convinced that complusion can neither remove untouchability nor safeguard Hinduism.

 Gandhi was vehement in his criticism against Sanatani Hindus in the last part of the letter. He wrote: “Let me make myself clear: I am not opposed to inter-dining in any way and I consider it adharma for anyone to refuse to eat in the company of a person out of contempt for him or on account of his birth. Assuredly it would be an exaggeration to assert that dining together necessarily promotes friendly feeling. But to refuse to dine with someone who is clean and is a vegetarian because he follows another religion or he belongs to another province or is an untouchable would be adharma. It cannot be considered proper to attribute to the untouchables as such insanitation and such other defects and to refuse to dine with them. We must bear in mind one thing if we are to consider the question in a religious spirit. The caste Hindus, having created a class of outcastes, have up to the present day been treating them in a most irreligious and brutal manner. This has caused uncleanliness and other vices to creep in among them. Sooner or later the Hindus have to atone for it. The time has now come when we can no longer deprive them of temple-entry, etc., by attributing to them vices of which we ourselves were the cause. Our atonement consists in meeting them as they are, allowing them to enter the temples and behaving decently with them. We must have the faith that our contact will exercise a purfying influence on their habits and that they too will make an effort to that end. There is no other way of reforming them and of the caste Hindus doing atonement. It is essential to remember that uncleanliness and similar short-comings found in Harijans are common to lacs of other Hindus who are not prevented on that account from entering the temples or joining other public institutions. Why should we sit in judgement on the Harijans? Ultimately to whom does God belong? Does He belong to the meritorious and the rich or to the sinners who can hardly lisp His name. We must not judge others. Our duty is to judge ourselves. Read and ponder calmly over what I have written and if still there is anything to ask, do not hesitate to ask me. I want to satisfy you, and that from self-interest for I expect a great deal of work from you in this cause. To me the question is purely a religious one and I want full cooperation from religious minded people like you.”

 Reflecting on the same Akshaya Mukul  in his book which was referred earlier   “Gandhi's best efforts to change Poddar's views on untouchability failed. Poddar’s diatribe against Gandhi continued in the pages of Kalyan till 1948. Thus a relationship that had begun as hero worship on Poddar’s part took a stormy turn during the intense phase of the national movement from the 1930s when Gandhi was reformulating his position on various social issues and when the competing interests of Muslims, Dalits and the strong Hindu right were challenging the position of Congress as the sole voice against the British government. As late as 1956, Poddar maintained that ‘practising untouchability does not mean hatred for anyone’ and untouchability is scientific and has the sanction of the shastras’.”

 

Despite their differences on various issues Gandhi was personally fond of Poddar.  To substantiate the same Akshaya Mukul   quoted what Gandhi wrote to Poddar in 1935 “ Sometimes I feel a man like you should stay with me. Bhai Jamnalal (Bajaj) also wants this. But wherever you are if you are mentally with me it is like staying with me. What you are doing through Kalyan and Gita Press is a great service to God. I feel I am part of what you are doing because you consider me your own and I consider you mine.” Mukul also  mentioned the fact  that in 1940 when Gandhi set up the Goseva Sangh, Jamnalal Bajaj wrote to Poddar seeking his views on the constitution of the new body and also to become an ordinary member and shoulder some responsibility. The idea to involve Poddar in this work was from Gandhi himself.  Mukul opines that though Poddar opposed Gandhi through Kalyan, privately he respected the Mahatma.   He quoted Poddar’s reply  to Bajaj from Gorakhpur, “ I cannot understand many of Bapu's ideas and works. In many cases my heart openly opposes them. They create problems for me. But then Bapu is Bapu. After all, what has [one’s opinion on] Mahatma Gandhi’s views to do with bhakti to Bapu.” However, Poddar’s angry disillusionment with the Congress and Gandhi were evident in the pages of Kalyan1940s and it continued till his death.

 

Reasons for Silence on Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination of Gita Press

 

It is surprising  that Poddar, a “partial Bhakt”  of  Mahatma  Gita Press and Kalyan  were  silent on the  assassination of Gandhi. Akshaya Mukul throws light on the same “ Poddar—who had consciously distanced himself from the Congress party since the Ahmedabad Congress of1921—was now openly working with the Hindu Mahasabha. He was among the key organizers of the Mahasabha’s annual convention in Gorakhpur in 1946. This, coupled with Kalyan's virulent attack on Gandhi, was to cause Poddar considerable trouble five months after Independence. Gandhi’s assassination on 30 January 1948 in Delhi's Birla House by Nathuram Godse and others associated with the Hindu Mahasabha and RSS, resulted in the arrest of more than 25,000 people throughout the country—among them Poddar and his mentor Jaydayal Goyandka. G.D. Birla refused to help the two, and even protested when Sir Badridas Goenka took up their case. For Birla, the two were not propagating sanatan dharma but shaitan (evil) dharma”

 

He further wrote “Gita Press maintained a studied silence on the Mahatma's assassination. The man whose blessing and writings were once so important for Kalyan did not find a single mention in its pages until April 1948 when Poddar wrote about his various encounters with Gandhi. Excerpts from his writings would later return to the pages of the journal, but the significant question remains unanswered: Why was there no mention of Gandhi in the February and March 1948 issues of Kalyan?”

 

 According to Akshaya Mukul  the CID Archives partly answer this question.  He wrote “Poddar was actively involved in defending the RSS that had been banned on 4 February 1948 for its alleged role in Gandhi’s assassination. On 15 July 1949— four days after the Nehru government lifted the ban on the RSS— Poddar attended a public meeting at Gorakhpur with Atal Bihari Vajpayee, then editor of RSS weekly Panchjanya. Vajpayee criticized the ‘government and Congressmen for having allegedly blundered in banning the RSS, the only organization which could really do something for Hindus'.  He added that the government 'did not deserve thanks for having lifted the ban as it had taken them one and half years to correct their mistake'. Poddar, the CID report said, also delivered a short speech on similar lines’.”

 

 

 References

 

1.Code of Procedure  Gandhi Peace Prize  Issued by Ministry of Culture , Government of India (2022) 

2. Press Release Ministry of Culture Release ID: 1933252 Posted On: 18 JUN 2023 4:02PM by PIB Delhi “ Gandhi Peace Prize for 2021 to be conferred on Gita Press, Gorakhpur''

Relevant News Paper Reports

3. Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi  ( Relevant Volumes), Publications Division, Government of India

4. Akshaya Mukul  Gita Press and the Making of Hindu India  (Noida : Harper Collins, 2015)

 

Note:

This document was prepared by Sri Jamnalal Bajaj Memorial Library and Research Centre of Sevagram Ashram Pratishthan  in the context of  requests from people from different  walks of life on this matter.