After PM claim, posts on Gandhi encounters with global movers & shakers flood internet
Times of India | 31 May 2024
Kolkata: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s remark that the world didn’t know Gandhi until the 1982 film ignited a flurry of reactions on social media, with many citing the leader’s encounters with the global community prior to the release of the India-UK co-production helmed by Richard Attenborough.
One such response came from Suman Sengupta, a civil engineer-turned-cultural activist.On X, Sen posed the question, “If indeed no one was aware of the leader, why was the film on Gandhi created by Richard Attenborough in 1982?” In a conversation with TOI, Sengupta alluded to the myriad meetings between Gandhi and world leaders that transpired between 1888 and 1891. “Gandhi pursued his legal studies in London, where he crossed paths with figures like George Bernard Shaw and Annie Besant, among others. Gandhi’s influence extended to politicians, inspiring them to spearhead mass movements advocating for the civil rights of oppressed communities worldwide. He also left an indelible mark on personalities like Albert Einstein and John Lennon. Nelson Mandela, often hailed as the ‘Gandhi of South Africa’, shared profound Indian connections and parallels with India’s ‘Father of the Nation’. None of them required the film to acknowledge Gandhi’s significance.”
In 1931, Charlie Chaplin, who was residing in Britain at the time, had sought an audience with Gandhi. The meeting nearly failed to materialize, as Gandhi was unfamiliar with Chaplin. However, others persuaded him, and on September 22, 1931, throngs of people congregated around Gandhi’s residence on East India Dock Road to catch a glimpse of the illustrious visitors. Photographs of the meeting graced the front pages of numerous newspapers the following day.
On YouTube, a newsreel clip from British Pathe captures the 1931 meeting between Gandhi and Chaplin. Chaplin himself has recounted the meeting in his autobiography. “I met him in a humble little house in the slum district off the East India Dock Road. Crowds filled the streets, and the Press and photographers packed both floors. The interview took place in an upstairs front room about twelve feet square. The Mahatma had not yet arrived, and as I waited, I began to ponder what I would say to him. I had heard of his imprisonment and hunger strikes, and his fight for the freedom of India, and vaguely knew of his opposition to the use of machinery.”
Sayandeb Chowdhury, who teaches literature at Krea University, who shared a photo of Martin Luther King Jr and his admiration of Gandhi. “Visiting India in 1952 (long before the film in 1982), King repeatedly said how Gandhi was the one who convinced him to use nonviolent forms of protest,” Chowdhury wrote on Instagram.