Vinay Lal - Gandhi is Dead: To Whom Do We Turn Now?

This book talk is occasioned by the 74th anniversary of the assassination of Mohandas («Mahatma») Gandhi.  The book in question is Gandhi is Gone:  Who Will Guide Us Now?  It is a record of the conversations that took place among the political leaders of India, some of the people who were closest to Gandhi, leading thinkers, and Gandhi around six weeks after Gandhi's death at Sevagram.  Gandhi had himself intended to host in Sevagram in February 1948 a national conclave of political and social workers dedicated to securing the social, economic, and cultural rights of the people, but he was shot dead on January 30 before he could do so.  Nonetheless, it was decided that a conclave would be held to reflect on how the nation was to move forward now that Gandhi was no longer there to offer his guidance.  Though a few important political leaders and close associates of Gandhi could not be present at the meeting over 5 days in March, most were there, among them Nehru, Maulana Azad, Vinoba Bhave, Jayaprakash Narayan, Gandhi's youngest son Devdas, Pyarelal, and Rajkumari Amrit Kaur.  The book records their views on how India was to move ahead, what kind of problems the country had to tackle, and so on.  I suggest that the record also shows how far the country had already drifted away from Gandhi and the spirit of his teachings; some of those present conceded that the Congress had already been overtaken by struggles over power, and that concerns about India's standing as a...