Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday claimed that the world did not know independence activist Mahatma Gandhi until Richard Attenborough’s 1982 movie “Gandhi” was made. Modi criticized the previous Congress-led governments for “not promoting” Mahatma Gandhi as he deserved.
In an interview with ABP News, Modi rhetorically questioned whether it was not the country’s job to secure Gandhi’s global reputation over the past 75 years. “Mahatma Gandhi was a great soul. Wasn’t it our responsibility to get him that level of global recognition during the last 75 years? Nobody knew, please excuse me on this. The first time, when the Gandhi film was made (1982), the world got curious about who he might be. We didn’t do the needful…If the world knew Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, Gandhi was no less than them and you have to accept that. I am saying this after traveling the world that Gandhi and through him, India should have been recognized…,” he said in response to a question about the Opposition’s understanding of India’s culture and values.
Mahatma Gandhi, born on October 2, 1869, in Gujarat’s Porbandar, is famous in history as a symbol of peace and non-violence and is one of the most prominent figures in India’s independence movement. Despite being nominated five times for the Nobel Peace Prize between 1937 and 1948, Gandhi never received the award.
In 2007, the United Nations declared Gandhi’s birthday, October 2, as the ‘International Day of Non-Violence.’ Gandhi has been featured on Indian currency regularly since 1969, and the Centre also awards the annual Mahatma Gandhi Peace Prize to distinguished social workers, world leaders, and citizens in his honor.