New Delhi, November 3
After the highly popular film 'Lage Raho Munnabhai' helped the young to rediscover the Mahatma, the Congress party’s youth wing is zeroing in on film stars to propogate Gandhian values.
Naseeruddin Shah, Sushmita Sen, Madhur Bhandrakar, Mahesh Bhatt and Sanjay Dutt are among those from the glamorous world, who have agreed to assist the National Students Union of India (NSUI), in reminding the youth about Gandhi’s forgotten legacy.
The NSUI is currently in the process of drawing up its programmes as part of the Congress party’s year-long plans to commemorate the centenary year of the launch of satyagraha by Mahatma Gandhi.
Instead of depending on academic discourses to get across its message, the youth wing has decided to organise a series of quiz shows on Gandhi in the
universities and colleges from December to March.
NSUI president Nadeem Javed said the film
personalities could be involved in hosting these shows or they could put up small plays relating to the Gandhian philosophy. “Take the case of Kaun Banega Crorepati.. it was not just a quizz programme but much more than that. We hope to do something like that,” he added. This will ensure a good turn-out and help explain Gandhi to a large number of people in a simple and entertaining manner, very much like Lage Raho Munnabhai.
Sanjay Dutt, who has helped a whole generation to rediscover Gandhi through his character in the movie, has agreed to participate in two seminars on Gandhivaad versus Gandhigiri.
Besides the NSUI programmes, the Congress has planned a series of
activities associated with Gandhian philosophy. Public meetings will be held in places like Champaran, which are associated with the satyagraha movement. Schools based on Gandhian philosophy are being planned in tribal areas while a cycle yatra is to be undertaken from Ahemdabad’s Sabarmati Ashram to Porbandar.
The Congress is hoping that these
programmes will help the party to claim ownership of Gandhi and his philosophy and counter the Sangh Parivar’s “communal agenda”.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi is taking a personal interest in this programme. A special meeting of the Congress Working
Committee had adopted a unanimous resolution to uphold Gandhi’s legacy and propogate his values through a series of programmes during the centenary year. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has already kicked off the year-long celebrations during his visit to South Africa, where Gandhi launched the satyagraha, after being thrown out of a train in Durban by the British.
