Eminent author, M.J. Akbar, launched his new book named “Gandhi A Life in Three Campaigns” on Friday at Prime Minister’s Museum and Library at the Pradhan Mantri Sangrahalaya. The event was hosted by Nripendra Misra, who was the Principal Secretary to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and is currently the Chairman of the Executive Council of the Prime Ministers’ Museum and Library Society.
Nripendra Misra spoke at the occasion, lauding M.J. Akbar for his book. Some of the other speakers at the function were Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Union Minister Hardeep Puri.
The Foreword of the book has been written by K. Natwar Singh, former diplomat and External Affairs Minister of India.
While talking about the author and the book, Ajit Doval said, “I don’t have to tell you what a great book he has written…This has an intellectual depth and is well researched. M.J. Akbar looks at things with an entirely different perspective. I was deeply impressed by the book. He says in his book what was happening underneath and how Gandhi’s personal life was evolving.”
Ajit Doval further mentioned how Gandhi’s political approach was inclusive, placing his strategy above soft power and hard power and calling it “smart power”. He said, “Gandhi knew the importance of utilising soft power against the brute forces during the freedom struggle.
“Military power is the most efficient power to overthrow the colonisers and achieving your political goals. Like we saw in Afghanistan the lesser power could vanquish the bigger power (USA). Gandhi was a fast practitioner of soft power and he used his moral force to vanquish a bigger power and bring it to the knees (England),” Ajit Doval added.
He added, “He could achieve the optimum result only when soft power combined with hard power. Gandhi did not use hard power, he did not approve their ways but he did not contempt it and that is what became the India’ smart power.”
Hardeep Singh Puri, Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas showered said that to honour Akbar was to honour scholarship. He said, “Natwar Singh, in the Foreword (of the book) raises a question that why does someone need to write a book on Gandhi when there are already 11,000 books on him. Perhaps he suggests Gandhi is being forgotten by the new generation. I would say there are still aspects to Gandhi which should be understood to through perspectives.”
The chief guest at the book launch, Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan was of the notion that the book was a product of exhaustive survey of Gandhi’s approach and the author had also been able to do in-depth enquiry into the saintly and mythical personality of Gandhi “who we fondly call Bapu and who dismantled” the British empire”.
Khan added, “Gandhi did campaign and held mass movements which were instrumental in India’s independence and it is my desire that this book is widely read so that they undertake the spirit of our independence movement. Above all Gandhi ensured all the activities are smoothly communicated in a systematic way. We can only marvel at his achievements. He was deeply embedded in the culture of India and did not take part in the partisan approach of casteism and his perception of society was connected with the soul.”