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War in West Asia has reached India’s kitchens: Former Bengal guv
Former West Bengal Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi on Saturday said the West Asia war has reached “India’s doorsteps and kitchens”, remarking that a conflict happening far away has led to police guarding LPG cylinder posts in India
Former West Bengal Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi on Saturday said the West Asia war has reached “India’s doorsteps and kitchens”, remarking that a conflict happening far away has led to police guarding LPG cylinder posts in India.
“The bombs have fallen there and have flown from there to nearby. But, can you imagine a war which is happening there and which leads us, here today in India to have police guarding LPG cylinder posts,” Gandhi said at a panel discussion about his India and Her Futures: Essays.
The discussion, held at the India International Centre in New Delhi, featured Gandhi, Tamil Nadu MP Kamal Haasan, and Kerala MP John Brittas, with the session moderated by former Prasar Bharati chairperson Mrinal Pande.
Haasan presented the first copy of the book to historian and wife of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Gursharan Kaur, to mark the occasion. “It is a deeply meaningful honour to be presenting this book to Mrs. Gursharan Kaur. Ma’am, Dr. Manmohan Singh was a personal inspiration to me,” Haasan said.
During the event, the former governor said that he is often asked what his grandfather, Mahatma Gandhi, would have thought about the ongoing conflict. “Let us not ask what would he have done today apart from the fact that he would have been in his 160s. Let us also remember that we are expected by him to do what we should according to our intelligence,” Gopalkrishna Gandhi said.
Further discussions ranged about various related to issues covered in the former IAS officer’s book –– from the relationship between the Union and state governments to Kerala’s long-standing global trade relations. Brittas, in response to a question about propaganda films, took a dig at the controversial The Kerala Story: “It’s virtually demonising a section of the population, tarnishing the state, and maligning Malayalis. There is not even a hypothesis of truth in plot of this movie.” He also added that the film was “hate being spilled under the name of a film”.
