Fight for capital, oil and technology  

I am now 81 years old. But I remember vividly the day Bapu was assassinated. And the day after. The entire village mourned and no food was cooked in any household. My father, a staunch Gandhian, held a ‘Harijan Bhoj’ and fed the Dalits on the day of the Shradh.

Irrespective of caste, everybody from the village took part. Inspired by Gandhi, I got associated with Sarvodaya Movement at the age of 18. But now when I look back, I feel sad at the marked deviation from what Gandhiji preached. But I also marvel at his foresight. He was a prophet.

He had explained that capitalism, a market economy and an industrial society were by their nature exploitative. They needed to control sources of raw material, he had said, and pointed out how the Englishmen came as traders and set up an empire. He had the foresight to say that India might have become politically free but economic, social and cultural freedom were yet to be achieved.

We were yet to establish an egalitarian, tolerant and compassionate society or communal harmony. All that is happening in the name of the people, here or elsewhere in the world, are happening, as he had said, to safeguard interests of capital and to grab natural resources like oil, and technology.