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Gandhi Vahan on road today
THE GANDHI Smriti Vahan will once again be seen on Kamla Nehru Road at 10 am on Sunday, after a lapse of 58 years. Back in 1948, a sea of mourners flanked the road as this Ford truck made its way to the confluence of the river Ganga and Yamuna rivers. It carried an urn containing the ashes of Mahatma Gandhi, being taken for immersion.
THE GANDHI Smriti Vahan will once again be seen on Kamla Nehru Road at 10 am on Sunday, after a lapse of 58 years.
Back in 1948, a sea of mourners flanked the road as this Ford truck made its way to the confluence of the river Ganga and Yamuna rivers. It carried an urn containing the ashes of Mahatma Gandhi, being taken for immersion.
The urn was escorted in the vehicle by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Patel, Sarojini Naidu and her daughters, Maulana Azad, Govind Ballabh Pant, Acharya Kriplani and Mahatma’s two sons Ramdas and Devdas. Besides millions of his followers followed the vehicle. It bore the registration number UPC 2363.
After the immersion ceremony, the vehicle was parked at the workshop of the Allahabad Municipal Board situated on Leader Road. Thereafter, it was handed over to the Allahabad Museum.
The idea of bringing it back on the road took shape when, in August 2005, the present chairman Prof Radha Kant Verma requested UP Road Transport Corporation managing director Umesh Sinha to get the vehicle repaired.
On Sunday, the said vehicle will be accompanied by a procession which will convert into a gathering in the lawns of the museum where speakers will speak on the ‘Relevance of Gandhi in the present scenario’.
Justice AK Yog of the Allahabad High Court will be the chief guest while Justice (Retd) Prem Shankar Gupta will preside over the function. RC Tripathi and Umesh Sinha will be the guests of honour.
