Sabarmati Saga, Erasing His Legacy

Over the last two years, there have been frequent reports in the press suggesting that the Government of India plans to redevelop Sabarmati Ashram. The actual substance of this plan is unclear, we have only varying media reports, all of them unconfirmed. Some say the plan is to build a ‘world class tourist attraction’, others claim the government intends to restore it to what it was in 1947. Either way, the families who have lived there for over a hundred years, originally invited to do so by Bapu himself in 1917, will now be displaced. On October 28, Tushar Gandhi approached the Gujarat High Court to file a PIL against the government’s plans.

What makes Sabarmati Ashram special?
When they returned from South Africa, Ba and Bapu chose Ahmedabad as their home. They rented a bungalow in the Kochrab locality and established a small Ashram community there, with 25 or 30 others. All was well, until Bapu invited a family of ‘untouchables’ (Harijans) to live with them. The neighbours denied them access to the common well and there was a revolt among the ashram-dwellers too. Bapu stood his ground, telling those who objected to leave. However, Bapu soon realised that he must move out into a more secluded, self-sustaining spot and began the hunt for a suitable plot of land across the river from the city.

The spot he found was a barren, undeveloped parcel of land, located on the banks of the Sabarmati between the cremation grounds and the prison. Many ashram-dwellers remained in Ahmedabad to volunteer as the city was hit by a plague outbreak, while the rest shifted across the river to begin building what would become the Sabarmati Ashram.

The residents lived out of tents at the start, building a tin shed to house the community kitchen. Then, small, simple homes were erected and the activities began. After 1917, the Sabarmati Ashram slowly grew into a residential ashram. Several peripheral organizations and institutions engaged in programmes envisaged by Bapu grew around it. A school was started too.

Nerve centre of the freedom struggle

The Sabarmati Ashram became the epicentre of the freedom struggle. It was from here that Bapu left to lead the Satyagraha in Champaran. The Non-Cooperation Movement to protest the Rowlatt Act was launched and withdrawn here after an incident of violence. Bapu was arrested from Sabarmati Ashram by the colonial police, charged with sedition and sentenced to six years’ imprisonment. Sabarmati Ashram became a ‘boot camp’ for young Satyagrahis being trained in the principles of nonviolent resistance. In 1930, when Bapu left on the Dandi Kooch, he vowed not to return until India won freedom. Three years later, as Satyagrahis bore the brunt of colonial oppression, Gandhi handed it over to the Harijan Sevak Sangh. He instructed them to use the Ashram for the upliftment and benefit of Harijans in perpetuity. Upon his departure, he instructed the ashram’s administrators to ensure that all those occupying its properties were allowed to do so, as long as they lived according to the ideals practiced when Ba and Bapu lived there.

The descendants of those families have continued to live in those tenements, some for over a hundred years. Now they are faced with the possibility of being evicted, uprooted and displaced. Whenever I have visited Sabarmati over the last two years, the current occupants of these properties, who feel threatened by the government’s proposal, plead with me to save their Ashram and of course, their homes. I have grown up knowing many of them as belonging to the extended ashram family. The thought of them being displaced is disturbing, they are understandably anxious. A few of them have now changed sides, maybe they fear losing everything they have, feel abandoned or are simply giving in to temptation.

These people have become the government’s agents, given the task of persuading the reluctant ones to accept the government’s offer and move out. Like the colonial rulers, present day governments also exploit weaknesses to divide us and implement their agenda. These tactics are being used to weaken the resistance at Sabarmati Ashram.

What are the Government’s intentions?
Various reports in the press and media suggest that the Government is in a very advanced stage of planning the ‘takeover’ and revamp of the ashram. There are stories of the architect being appointed and detailed plans of the ashram’s redesign are often circulated in the media. Many are conflicting. One says that the government intends to restore the ashram to the state it was in 1947 when India won Independence.

This implies that even the acclaimed and award winning Sanghrahalaya, designed and built by the eminent architect Charles Correa will be removed. Is it