M A I N   N E W S

A bit of Martin Luther in Rajghat
Kumar Rakesh
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, November 8
US President Barack Obama’s visit to Rajghat today was much more than just another obligatory visit state heads pay to the memorial of the apostle of peace. It was more like a learner and true admirer of the Mahtama’s ideals paying his earnest respects to him.

Government officials presented a “charkha” to the visiting American dignitary who was accompanied by his wife Michelle Obama.

Obama was equally thoughtful as he gifted a white stone from Martin Luther King Junior’s memorial at Washington DC.

Rajghat lived up to the Gandhian principle of simplicity and no special fair was laid out for the guests. It was a solemn and simple occasion.

Obamas arrived at 10.15 am and were shown around by Rajnish Kumar, secretary of Rajghat Samadhi Committee. Kumar said they generally gifted a bust of Gandhi, books and a khadi scroll with seven social sins, which he had quoted in a publication he brought out, to the guests. But they decided to gift him a “charkha”, a high symbol of Gandhian philosophy and Independent struggle, as Obama has often acknowledged the influence of Gandhi on him, and much so frequently during his public statements in India.

Kumar said he told Obama about the significance of “charkha” in Gandhi’s life and the Indian Independence struggle he led against the British. Obama, an avid reader, might have already known the fact, but he listened to the every word earnestly and acknowledged their significance.

The President was also gifted three books on Gandhi, including his best-selling autobiography “My Experiments with Truth”, and a khadi scroll that had seven sins, as mentioned by Gandhi, imprinted on it.

The white stone, a Martin Luther King Junior memorabilia, America’s foremost civil rights leader and also a Gandhi’s admirer, had the presidential seal and Obama’s signature embossed on it.

He wrote in the visitor’s diary: “We will always remember the great soul who changed the world with his message of peace, tolerance and love. More than 60 years after his passing, his light continues to inspire the world.” Rajghat officials said the earnestness Obama showed during his visit to Rajghat and with the keenness he received all that was said to him about the memorial showed the respect he had for the Father of the Nation.

“He was a very special guest. You could feel the respect he had for the Mahatma,” he said. During the Mumbai leg of his stay, he had visited the Gandhi museum at Mani Bhavan on Saturday and written that Gandhi was a hero not just to India, but to the world.