- Saturday, April 20, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
RATNAKAR, the newly appointed organisational secretary of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the western Indian state of Gujarat has claimed that Mahatma Gandhi himself never wore the cap which is named after him but Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first prime minister, did.
His remarks found defence in the words of the state’s deputy chief minister, Nitin Patel, who on Monday (7) said though the cap is famously known as “Gandhi topi” (Gandhi cap), no one ever saw the Mahatma, who hailed from the state, wear it.
“No one has ever found a photo in which Gandhiji can be seen wearing that Gandhi cap. Even I have never seen such a photo. Thus, what Ratnakarji said is true. Though the cap is known as ‘Gandhi Topi’, probably no one has ever seen a photo in which Gandhiji can be seen wearing a Gandhi cap,” Patel told reporters in Gandhinagar, the state capital.
On Sunday (5), Ratnakar, who took over last month, tweeted asking why the cap is called ‘Gandhi Topi’ when it was worn by Nehru and not by the Father of the Nation himself. He also shared a picture of the former prime minister wearing the cap juxtaposed with a picture of the Mahatma not wearing the same.
Soon, the issue erupted into a full-fledged political row with Gujarat’s Congress chapter reacting sharply to the words of the BJP leaders. It said people who never took part in the freedom struggle and sided with the British colonisers are now pointing fingers at the country’s freedom fighters and its first prime minister.
“People who used to salute the British hat are passing such comments on freedom fighters and India’s first PM after coming to Gandhi-Sardar’s Gujarat,” state Congress spokesperson Manish Doshi said. He added, “These people used to work for the Britishers and never participated in the freedom struggle. The same people are now desperate to change history.”
The Congress’s connection with the iconic headwear, which looks like an upturned boat, however, however has diluted over the years. The ‘Gandhi Topi’ is back into India’s political circles and seen as a style statement and new parties like the Aam Aadmi Party (common man party) and individuals like Anna Hazare have associated themselves with the cap, which is now seen more as a symbol of crusade against corruption and to achieve justice. Ironically, the supporters of the AAP wear the cap while fighting corruption and parties like the Congress and others that are allegedly complicit in the system.
