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Tag: Gandhis

  • Fun & frolic! Gandhis have playful time in J-K’s Srinagar after BJY ends

    Fun & frolic! Gandhis have playful time in J-K’s Srinagar after BJY ends

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    Srinagar: A snowball fight, a warm hug, a helping hand to push a car. There were heartwarming moments aplenty as Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra ended the Bharat Jodo Yatra on a snowed out day that became more than just about politics.

    After a hectic five-month and over 4000-kilometres of the yatra, which the Gandhi scion walked the most part of, he and his sister had fun in Srinagar which was enveloped by a thick white carpet of snow.

    The duo had ‘Sheen Jung’ (snowball fight), strolled along the famous Dal Lake on Monday evening, took photographs of the snow and the lake and greeted people.

    A less than a minute-long video titled ‘Snow fights and a walk by the Dal lake with Priyanka’ on Rahul Gandhi’s YouTube channel, put out on Tuesday morning, showcased the playful times the Gandhis had after the culmination of the march with an opposition rally earlier in the day amid heavy snowfall.

    The video has garnered over 32,000 views since it was posted.

    The 58-second video, which starts with a long-pan shot of the famous Dal Lake, shows Rahul strolling on the footpaths of the Foreshore or Boulevard Road wearing a yellow-colour jacket, with a woollen cap and gloves, and his his sister in a black jacket.

    The duo can be seen interacting with the people passing by, waving to the crowd who were excited to see the Gandhi family members. They also took photographs of the lake.

    At one point, a local man stopped his car and requested Gandhi for a handshake and a hug. Though the unidentified person was stopped by Gandhi’s security team, the former Congress president obliged to the request. He shook hands with the man and gave him a warm hug.

    The security team threw a secure ring around the Gandhis and had a tough time in ensuring there was no security breach.

    The video also shows Gandhi lending a helping hand to push a car stuck in the snow.

    Earlier in the evening, the Gandhis engaged in a playful snowball fight. Rahul had a snowball fight with his sister on Monday morning, but, seems it was not enough. Later in the evening, the duo engaged in another round of snowball fight in the lawns of a popular hotel here where many movies have also been shot.

    They had such a ‘duel’ on Monday morning at a yatra campsite in Pantha Chowk area of the city here the video of which showed Rahul Gandhi sneaking towards his sister concealing two snow blocks behind, and managing to put them on her head.

    However, this time, it was Priyanka’s turn, with the video showing her waiting with snowballs for her brother. The duo played for some time, with Priyanka managing to take a few clicks in between.

    The video ends with Rahul hitting a snowball on Priyanka’s head from the back a bulls eye shot!

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    #Fun #frolic #Gandhis #playful #time #JKs #Srinagar #BJY #ends

    ( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

  • New book documents revival of Gandhi’s Tolstoy Farm in South Africa

    New book documents revival of Gandhi’s Tolstoy Farm in South Africa

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    Johannesberg: A new book documenting the revival of the historic Tolstoy Farm, the commune started by Mahatma Gandhi during his tenure in Johannesburg at the turn of the 19th century, was officially launched here ahead of the iconic Indian leader’s 75th death anniversary.

    The book titled Tolstoy Farm the Road to Recovery’ was launched on Sunday and shares how Gandhian enthusiast Mohan Hira almost single-handled changed the completely vandalised Tolstoy Farm, overgrown by grass and bush, to where it today has a Garden of Remembrance, fruit orchards, a library and a museum.

    The author, a veteran South African journalist and PTI Correspondent in South Africa Fakir Hassen, shared how this book came about.

    “This book is not a complete historical record of the revival of Tolstoy Farm, nor is it an academic exercise on its relevance today, but rather just a collection of some of what I have reported over the last two decades or so,” he said.

    Hassen has written books on the contemporary history of South African Indians, including three on Gandhi. Gandhi, the father of the nation, was shot dead by Nathuram Godse on this day in 1948.

    The author said the idea of this book was initiated in November 2022 when he joined Indian Consul General Anju Ranjan at Tolstoy Farm as speakers at the official opening of the library, put up in record time by Hira and his colleagues at the Mahatma Gandhi Remembrance Organisation (MGRO).

    “I had known about Tolstoy Farm from the 1970s when I was a young journalist with the Lenasia Times. I recall seeing some fruit trees and the remains of the wood and iron building that was once Gandhi’s home during his tenure in Johannesburg,” he said.

    It was largely left to Hira’s associates at the MGRO and the last few High Commissioners and Consuls General of India to start supporting Hira and his initiatives.

    In the book, Hassen quotes South African academic and prolific historian Prof Surendra Bhana’s essay incorporating the history of Tolstoy Farm in the South African Historical Journal, No 7, of November 1975.

    “Gandhi used the farm much as he was to use the Sabarmati Ashram later in India. One can say that the Tolstoy Farm was a laboratory for experimenting with problematic issues: diet, nature cure, harmonious living with nature, brahmacharya, and so on. It also proved to be a ‘training ground’ – I must add, incidentally – for his leadership among the people and in the politics of India,” Bhana wrote.

    Mahatma Gandhi’s 75th death anniversary was commemorated as Martyrs’ Day the world over on Monday.

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    #book #documents #revival #Gandhis #Tolstoy #Farm #South #Africa

    ( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

  • Urmila Matondkar Joins Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra In Jammu

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    SRINAGAR: Actor-politician Urmila Matondkar on Tuesday joined the Congress’s Bharat Jodo Yatra in Jammu and Kashmir. Rahul Gandhi is leading the foot march, which is now in its last phase.

    “When stars join, the journey becomes brighter,” the grand old party tweeted in Hindi.

    Ever since the party’s march started in September, many prominent faces – outside of the Congress – have been a part of the grand old party’s foot march. Actors, including Pooja Bhatt, former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan, veteran army officers have walked alongside Rahul Gandhi. In Delhi, Kamal Haasan joined the foot march last month.

    Urmila Matondar also posted a video on social media that showed her walking with Gandhi. “Walk for Unity, Affinity, Equality and Fraternity (sic),” she tweeted.

    Before the march, she posted a video message, where she can be heard saying: “In this winter chill, I am addressing you from Jammu. In a short while from now, I will be joining the Yatra. Indian unity is the spirit that has been carried along during this Yatra. All of us have created this India and we have to help it grow. For me, this Yatra is more for the society than politics. The world is functional with love, not hate,” she can be heard saying in the clip.

    Throughout the Kanyakumari to Kashmir Yatra, Rahul Gandhi has been saying that his party aims to counter the hatred spread by the ruling party in an attack on the BJP and the RSS. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, however, on Sunday had said that “India is not broken that it needs Congress to unite it”.

    On Monday, Rahul Gandhi met Kashmiri Pandits and also raised the issue of statehood during one of the addresses.



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    #Urmila #Matondkar #Joins #Rahul #Gandhis #Bharat #Jodo #Yatra #Jammu

    ( With inputs from : kashmirlife.net )

  • Bharat Jodo Yatra: Congress Won’t Compromise On Rahul Gandhi’s Security, Says Jairam Ramesh

    Bharat Jodo Yatra: Congress Won’t Compromise On Rahul Gandhi’s Security, Says Jairam Ramesh

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    SRINAGAR: The Congress on Sunday said the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ will follow the directions of the security agencies as the security of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is of topmost concern. The statement comes as Jammu witnessed twin blasts on Saturday that left many civilians injured.

    “We are in touch with the security agency. Any suggestions from them will be followed. There can be no compromise when it comes to the security of Rahul Gandhi. His security is of topmost concern for us,” Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said in Kathua.

    He said the party’s stand is clear on terrorism. “There should be no compromise in dealing with either the perpetrators or sponsors of terrorism,” Ramesh said.

    Several Congress leaders on Sunday said they were concerned about the safety and security of Gandhi after the twin explosions in Jammu “as it raises a question mark on the security arrangements”.

    “We accept that the security agencies are fully alert and are doing their job satisfactorily, but claims of the government that terrorism has been finished falls flat in the wake of such incidents,” a Jammu-based Congress leader said.

    Gandhi’s ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ is arriving in Jammu on Monday. Jammu has been put on high alert following twin blasts in the city.

    In response to statements made by the BJP where they asked the Congress to clarify its stand on the issue of Article 370, Ramesh said, “Article 370 is a very serious issue. As of now, the bigger issue is restoration of democratic processes in J&K, when elections will be held and Statehood restored. J&K has become an attached office of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).”

    He said there is an “undeclared emergency in the country”. “An undeclared emergency is more dangerous than a declared emergency. The BJP has ended the spirit of democracy in the country,” he added.

    Gandhi will address a rally in Jammu on Monday. He will celebrate Republic Day with locals in J&K’s Banihal area before heading for the Kashmir Valley. His Bharat Jodo campaign will conclude on January 30 in Srinagar. Several regional leaders have joined the yatra and more leaders from Kashmir are likely to join the yatra in the Valley.

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    #Bharat #Jodo #Yatra #Congress #Wont #Compromise #Rahul #Gandhis #Security #Jairam #Ramesh

    ( With inputs from : kashmirlife.net )