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Gandhi's ashes in the ocean


Gandhi's ashes in the ocean - In South Africa the ceremony, the third since the death of Mahatma - January 30, 2010

NEW DELHI - The Indian Ocean off the coast of Durban, South Africa, welcomed for the third time after his death, 62 years ago, part of the ashes of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, widely known as Mahatma (Great Soul) and the father of nonviolence.

E 'was his granddaughter Ela Gandhi, who has lived 20 years in the African country, to renew the propitiatory ceremony, which according to Hindu tradition is instead made only once after the cremation of the body. But the exceptional character, and the fact that after his assassination, 30 January 1948, his ashes were sent to various parts of the world, allowed that the ceremony be repeated two years ago in Mumbai for 60 years after death with a third appendix in South Africa today. Like every year, the figure of Gandhi, called by the Indians 'Nabu' (father), was remembered by people of all castes and all religions.

In New Delhi, the top management of the government and the Congress Party, headed by Sonia Gandhi, have paid tribute to his memory. The official delegation which visited the Rajghat, the rectangle of black stone which commemorates the spot where Gandhi was cremated January 31, 1948 near the river Yamuna, was led by President Pratibha Patil and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. South Africa performed the ceremony at dawn Ela Gandhi, dressed in white, as were the children Ashsish, Asha and Kidar Ramgobin and grandson Satish Dhupelia that accompanied it, has embarked on a motorboat, followed by many others, the ' led off the coast of Durban, the Indian Ocean.

Qui, visibilmente commossa, la donna ha recitato insieme alla gente alcune preghiere e poi ha disperso in mare il contenuto dello scrigno gelosamente conservato per anni, lanciando successivamente sulle ceneri una manciata di petali arancioni di calendula. Al ritorno a terra, la pronipote del Mahatma ha assicurato che "é stata una bella cerimonia, a cui erano presenti circa 200 persone". "Il senso di questa celebrazione - ha aggiunto - é anche ricordare al mondo l'importanza dei messaggi di Gandhi che sono ancora attuali".

Per quanto riguarda il piccolo mistero delle ceneri usate oggi e di cui non si conosceva l'esistenza, è emerso che erano contenute in uno scrigno che fu inviato nel 1948 in Sudafrica, paese dove Gandhi visse per molti anni e dove esordì in politica, ad un amico di famiglia, Vilas Metha. La maggior parte di esse furono disperse in mare allora, ma Mehta ne tenne all'insaputa di tutti una piccola quantità, conservando il segreto fino alla morte, quando la nuora le ha scoperte e restitute ai Gandhi.