KARACHI: Despite a shaky start, the session on the Legacy of Mahatama did have a few good moments.

The session was held at the main garden of a local hotel on Sunday; the venue was packed with people, some of whom were standing to listen to Rajmohan Gandhi speak about his grandfather. He was accompanied by London-based researcher Sarah Ansari.

Speaking about how his grandfather was seen differently by a diverse group of his admirers and followers worldwide, he pointed out three prominent aspects of what he stood for. “There are three most relevant teachings of Gandhi-ji. To look after the need of the poor first and foremost. A peaceful coexistence between Hindus and Muslims if they manage to look beyond their differences. And the third was to always prefer getting killed, over killing.”

Explaining, he gave an example of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in 1919. After a session in the Indian city of Jhalandar where Mohammad Ali Jinnah had also accompanied him among others, the panelists passed a strong-worded resolution at the end of the discussion. But despite his anger towards the incident, Gandhi-ji added a paragraph at the end of the resolution, stating that the house deplored the death of the Englishmen who had been killed by a mob in Amritsar. Rajmohan added that when someone criticised him for ‘not being Indian enough to have added that’, Gandhi retorted: “Only a son of an Indian mother could have done that. If we don’t condemn murders, we’ll end up being ruled by murderers.”

The conversation with the prolific author could have been much better and revealing, had the moderator been articulated enough.

Unfortunately, it felt like being in a press conference where the speaker was bombarded with badly phrased questions by journalist and writer Zafar Junejo who moderated the session. But despite the confusion, Junejo managed to put his point across.

When Junejo asked him about the “love triangle” between Mira, Kasturba (Gandhi’s wife) and Gandhi-ji, Rajmohan said that “if ever there was anything that the ladies shared amongst themselves, it was a feeling of pure warmth and respect for each other.”

He added that often, when Gandhi was in prison, Mira used to read out Gandhi-ji’s letters to Kasturba.

It was Gandhi who had given Mira her nickname. Madeliene Slade, a British woman and daughter of an admiral at that time, left her home to work with Gandhi. She was extremely devoted to him, Rajmohan explained. “But I haven’t come across any reliable work about the presence of a sexual love between the two.”

At this point, Sarah Ansari added that Gandhi’s legacy has evolved over the years, as history itself is evolving.

Throughout the session, Mr Rajmohan stressed on the point that people should completely reject the flaws, or what they found weak in Gandhi. “And adopt what is positive about his life and teachings.”

Former judge Fakhruddin G. Ibrahim made a comment by the end of the event, saying that “I’m a pacifist. How can I deal with the Taliban who kill first and question later?”

To which Rajmohan retorted: “A pacifist should never speak to people who attack innocents.”Zafar Junejo also presented a book to Mr Rajmohan on Gandhi’s life that had been translated from English to Sindhi. Reading out an excerpt from the book, he narrated how despite having major differences with the West, he adapted himself to what he thought was good about them.—Saher Baloch