Mahatma Gandhi's grandson has said that the father of the doctrine of non-violence would have adapted to modern times if alive, to counter the terrorism of ISIL (Islamic State). A day before the unveiling of the statue of Mahatma Gandhi at the historic Parliament Square by prime minister David Cameron and India's finance minister Arun Jaitley, TOI decided to quiz him on the relevance of Gandhi in modern times.

How relevant is Mahatma Gandhi today?

As much if not more that when he lived. Not just because he had the answers to our ills but because he was willing to acknowledge that he didn't have all the answers, that he was fallible, a mere experimenter with truth and not with its patent holder. Gandhi said in Delhi in Nov 1947 when the city was reeling under communal rights that whenever he sees a crime committed, he thinks he is the culprit. That is where his relevance comes in. Instead of saying I am not guilty or saying I am the answer, we need political, religious and corporate leaders to take responsibility. Thereby they must make other culprits accountable. If these leaders had the attitude of Gandhi what a change that could bring. How do you think his reaction would be to terrorism and ISIL for example? Can a Gandhi still be a force to face them and defeat them with the doctrine of nonviolence?

Gandhi's nonviolence was not static, it evolved and adapted to changing situations. He said a frightened submission to the bully was no part of nonviolence. Intimidation of cunningly lethal terror is such a formidable challenge that one can legitimately ask if the victims and targets of this kind of ISIL brutality which we have witnessed have anything to gain from Gandhi. Gandhi is a benchmark and not the last word. The courage of men and women who have been executed in recent times give examples of the courage that Gandhi would have said exceeds his own standards.

Do we need a modern day Gandhi?

Gandhi has done more than what one man can do in his lifetime. What we need is not a modern Gandhi but the inner power that he wanted to see in us to do what is right for us today.

Many people who are working to protect the woman and the vulnerable child from exploitation, to stem the sway of weapons manufacture and the arms market, the rapacity of the world's mineral and forest decimated, water and air contaminated, coastline mutilators and cruel traders in wildlife are doing Gandhi's work as well as he would have done or even better without using or being aware of Gandhi's name. Let us be inspired by them than to look for a modern Gandhi.

Are you happy with UK's decision to unveil the state? What does it mean for UK India ties?

It is an act of rare political and historical imagination. Mahatma Gandhi worked tenaciously against British raj calling its rule "satanic". He harrowed its structures both political and administrative for over three decades and during WW11 when Congress' terms of cooperation were not accepted, he escalated the resistance. Now, six and more decades on Britain eased those proceedings into perspective of world history aided no doubt by the fact that Gandhi's struggle was nonviolent and he bore not a shred of ill will for Britain or the British people. How many countries have honoured a man officially and at the highest level of participation who fought against it? I can't think of many or any and so I laud and applaud Britain for this unusual gesture to celebrate a man whose cause was just and whose means were fair.

Are you disappointed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi didn't come for such a prestigious event?

Let us not regret absences on a day which has powerful presences. From history, the statue of Abraham Lincoln right behind where Gandhi will stand or Winston Churchill and Nelson Mandela. From society of so many Britons of different backgrounds and ethnicities. And from politics, Britain's prime minister, minister of culture and India's finance minister who has a great sense of history. PM Modi is in Mauritius right now near South Africa where the epic process of decolonisation started. Gandhi's leading political colleague in South Africa Thambi Naidoo came to him via Mauritius and so our PM being there too on this day is a felicity in itself.

TNN | Mar 13, 2015, 10.46 PM IST

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/uk/Interview-with-Gopal-Krishna-Gandhi/articleshow/46558334.cms