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World-class Gandhi vs frugal saint — the battle at the heart of Sabarmati Ashram’s makeover

Modi govt approved a grand but controversial Rs 1,246 crore makeover plan of the 55 acres Sabarmati Ashram complex. The initial claim, to make it a "world-class tourist attraction", drew flak.

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Ahmedabad: On a humid August day, visitors from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh crammed into the Gandhi Ashram near Sabarmati. As they rushed past different areas of the ashram, their gait suddenly changes when they reach the heart of the ashram — Hriday Kunj. Many lie down in the verandah of the area where Gandhi lived with his wife Kasturba, on the earthen floor. Others lean on the pillars and sit down against the walls. A sombre sense of remembrance and introspection fills Hriday Kunj.

But just a month ago, the government approved a grand but controversial Rs 1,246 crore makeover plan of the 55 acre Sabarmati Ashram complex to make it a “world-class tourist attraction”. Many who have worked and lived here for decades now fear that the essence of the site may change irreversibly.

The ashram, which served as one of the main centres of the freedom movement, was originally called Satyagraha Ashram, a place where Gandhi spent 13 years of his life between 1917 and 1930, before he departed for the historical salt march to Dandi.

In 2019, on the occasion of Mahatma Gandhi’s 150th birth anniversary, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced that the ashram, would be redeveloped to preserve its original peaceful environment. In March this year, the Gujarat government issued a resolution for the constitution of a governing council to monitor the project headed by Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and an executive council headed by chief principal secretary to the CM, K. Kailashnathan.

Spread over a 55-acre area, the renovated ashram complex will include the conservation of 63 heritage buildings within and around the core ashram, which date back to the time of Gandhi. While initial reports had suggested that the plan was to make the ashram into a “world-class” memorial, a source associated with the project, told ThePrint, that the word is not being used anymore — Gandhians insist that the ashram is already “world-class”.

A budget of Rs 1,246 crore has been earmarked for the project. According to information accessed by ThePrint, of this amount, Rs 490 crore is to be spent on developing the main ashram — for things like repairs, designing pedestrian ways and diverting the Ashram Road traffic.

An amount of Rs 273 crore has been allocated for developing the ashram precinct, Rs 316 for developing the satellite campus (such as the educational buildings and workshops associated with the ashram). The rest is to be spent on relocation and compensation of those who live in the ashram area. The entire project will be funded centrally, by the Ministry of Culture.

Currently, apart from Hriday Kunj, the five-acre main ashram area comprises a prayer area, the Vinoba-Mira kutir — a small hut that served, at different points, as the residence of Vinoba Bhave (best known for starting the Bhoodaan movement) and of Madeleine Slade or Mirabehn (daughter of a British rear-admiral, who moved to India and became involved in the country’s freedom struggle) — and Magan Niwas, the residence of Maganlal Gandhi, the Mahatma’s nephew and disciple.

There are other buildings of historical significance surrounding Hriday Kunj — Nandini (that used to serve as the ashram guest house), Udyog Mandir (where the khadi technology had been developed) and the Somnath Chhatralaya. A museum, library and exhibition area, now part of the complex, were a later addition by architect Charles Correa.

For the project, the structures within the ashram complex have been divided into four categories — buildings having activities congruent with the ashram (such as khadi shops, charkha gallery and book stalls), those which are congruent with the original ashram but having non-congruent activities (the bank in the complex, for example), those with non-congruent buildings but congruent activities (educational activities, hostels being run around the ashram) and those with non-congruent buildings and activities (unnecessary encroachment, residents, shops, which have no connection with the ashram).

The proposed masterplan of the project | Courtesy: HCP Design Planning and Management Pvt. Ltd
The proposed masterplan of the project | Courtesy: HCP Design Planning and Management Pvt. Ltd

Buildings in the first category will be preserved as is, those of the second kind will also be preserved, but the activity will be shifted to the adjoining complex. Those in the third category will be demolished, but the activities that used to be undertaken in these buildings will be carried on in the main ashram complex. Buildings and activities in the fourth category will be shifted out of the ashram complex.

The plan also includes the construction of some new buildings, but all of them will be in accordance with the ethos and existing architectural design of the ashram, according to HCP Design Planning and Management Pvt. Ltd, the architecture and design firm tasked with leading the project. HCP, architect Bimal Patel’s company, is also handling the Central Vista project and had led the Sabarmati Riverfront project.

The Sabarmati Ashram renovation project also includes improving the surroundings of the ashram, which includes the preservation of the nearby Chandrabhaga rivulet, and establishing a sewage treatment plant for it.

An inside view of Hriday Kunj | Unnati Sharma | ThePrint
An inside view of Hriday Kunj | Unnati Sharma | ThePrint

The project has, however, not found favour with many Gandhians, who feel it to be an attempt by the government “to appropriate” the Mahatma and all that he stood for.

Earlier this month, 130 people, including historian Rajmohan Gandhi and Ramachandra Guha, filmmaker Anand Patwardhan, president of the Gujarati Sahitya Parishad, Prakash Shah, among others wrote an open letter to oppose the “government takeover of Gandhian institutions”.

They alleged that the plan to make Gandhi Ashram a “world-class” memorial, will “severely compromise and trivialise the sanctity of the ashram”. They also expressed their concern over the “frightening aspect” of the government taking control over all Gandhian archives.

“My contention is that if the ashram complex is to be treated like a theme park, it is a great insult to Gandhi. Look at the government’s mindset — it recently celebrated the 125th birth anniversary of Gujarat’s renowned poet Zaverchand Meghani, and there was no photo of him on the poster and stage,” Prakash N. Shah, who led the petition opposing the plan, told ThePrint.

“For them, whether it is Gandhi or anybody else, they are tools of their own image projection and event management. The trustees should be more vocal. This is not Central Vista, this is Gandhi Ashram. The details should be in the public domain and let there be a public debate and discussion on it,” he added.

Those driving the project, however, insist that there is no cause of apprehension.

Speaking to ThePrint, the head of the executive council and chief principal secretary to the CM, K. Kailashnathan said that any talk of any part of the ashram being demolished was a myth.

“Nothing like that is going to happen. To restore the ethos of the ashram, we would just create an overall plan to connect all the buildings of historical significance and activities. We might include a museum for the freedom movement, as the ashram was the birthplace for many such movements, including the Dandi Yatra,” he said.

Dismissing speculation of the renovated ashram complex including a VIP lounge and a food court, as mentioned in many news reports — which according to many Gandhians go against the ethos and culture of the ashram — a source in HCP said, “There would be basic facilities. If the footfall is going to increase, it is only natural to have some more parking facilities, toilets, or maybe a place to get water and tea, but no extravagant food court will be created.”


Also read: Mahatma Gandhi’s glasses found in UK auctioneer’s letterbox, could fetch over Rs 14 lakh


‘Nothing like Jallianwala Bagh will happen’

Photos of the recently inaugurated complex of Jallianwala Bagh, especially the inclusion of murals and art pieces on the narrow passage that General Dyer used to attack peaceful protestors in the park, has created uproar on social media and added to the apprehensions about the future of the Gandhi Ashram.

“Nothing like that is going to happen. We are trying to conserve the ashram, and restore the peace and serenity from the pre-independence era,” Kailashnathan told ThePrint.

“The road leading to the ashram is dusty, always full of noise (from the traffic), wouldn’t it be good if there is peace, especially around the ashram area and Hriday Kunj, where Gandhi ji lived?” he added.

“Currently, people visit the ashram just to see the three core structures and do not spend more than 15-20 minutes here. We should ask them ‘what did they learn about Gandhi in such a short time?’ I would want youngsters to spend more time in the ashram when they visit there and get the whole feel of it, and understand what values Gandhi ji, and the ashram stand for,” said Kailashnathan.

The prayer area in the ashram | Unnati Sharma | ThePrint
The prayer area in the ashram | Unnati Sharma | ThePrint

“There were various activities that were started by Gandhi ji in the ashram, which continue even today. For example, we will have khadi shops inside the ashram complex, the way we do now, but the production unit will be in the adjoining compound. Likewise, Khadi Gramodyog’s handmade paper, soap paper workshops will also be somewhere in the adjoining ashram complex. We would really like to popularise khadi in a big way. There will also be a gaushala museum (while establishing the ashram, Gandhi had also started Sabarmati Ashram Gaushala in 1915). Currently, there is no gaushala in the ashram complex, but there is a cattle semen bank, which is not congruent with the ashram,” said Kailashnathan.

“The Gandhi Ashram will be a jewel of Ahmedabad, people will feel proud of it.”


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Resigned to change

The project has, however, been mired in controversy, right from the time that it was made public.

In October 2019, soon after PM Modi announced the project, there was a protest rally by those who feared being evicted because of it. The current ashram complex is spread across 47 acres, which includes colonies just across the road from the core ashram inhabited by 263 families, who are descendants of those who were either brought in by Gandhi, or were associated with activities of the ashram.

Every house here has a story to tell about the family’s association with “Gandhi ji”.

“My grandfather used to drive away the birds in the ashram’s farms and help in other agricultural work,” says a resident, who is unwilling to disclose his identity.

The members of many of these families are not directly associated with ashram activities anymore, and hold private and public sector jobs.

Thakor Vas, near the ashram where descendants of many of those brought to the ashram by Gandhi live | Unnati Sharma | ThePrint
Thakor Vas, near the ashram where descendants of many of those brought to the ashram by Gandhi live | Unnati Sharma | ThePrint

The residents of these colonies were given two choices by the government, to either accept a one-time compensation of Rs 60 lakh or houses in tenements which HCP claims will be a part of the project. According to the district collectors’ office, 48 families have already received the first compensation installment of Rs 40 lakh, while nine families have received the entire amount. The deal is for recipients to move out and hand over the property within a month of being given the first part of the compensation.

The decision, either to accept the compensation or a flat in the renovated complex, seems born more of resignation than acceptance.

Dayabhai and Suryaben Thakur, who work in the ashram office and have been living in the area adjacent to the main museum, have chosen to take accommodation, instead of monetary compensation. Both their grandfathers were settled in the ashram by Mahatma Gandhi, during the 1920s, they said.

“We asked for a house because in Rs 60 lakh, we might just get a flat somewhere which may not have adequate sunlight or greenery. We would not prefer living like that. The authorities have assured us that they will give us a flat, let us see what happens,” said Suryaben.

They aren’t happy about leaving the current accommodation in Thakor Vas, a locality on Ashram Road, where 65 other families with links to the ashram, currently reside.

“What to do? It is our majboori (compulsion)… We were born here, work in the ashram, our forefathers lived here with Bapu, and Bapu gave us this house,” said Suryaben. “Bapu hi idhar laaye the, Bapu hi nikaal rahe hain to jayenge (Gandhi brought us here, now he is asking us to go, so we will have to leave), she said.

While there is some dissatisfaction about the broad Rs 60 lakh compensation — “isn’t it unfair that everyone is being given Rs 60 lakh, irrespective of how big or small their house is,” asked one resident — the decision to either accept compensation or a residence in the promised tenements is also borne of the fact that most of the families don’t have proof of ownership of the houses they live in, having simply lived there for generations.

“Now when the project has been decided, whether you agree or not, it is better to move from here. No use fighting with the government. Most of the people who live here don’t own these houses or have no documents. So this is an opportunity for them to get their own houses in their names, which will secure their future,” said a resident, on condition of anonymity.

“The emotional attachment is certainly there… My grandfather and grandmother came with Gandhi ji and helped in building the ashram. While my grandfather helped in the construction of Hridaya Kunj, my grandmother used to work with Kasturba Gandhi in the kitchen.”


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‘Why should we believe them?’

Not everyone, however, is willing to give in without a fight.

Mudita Vidrohi, a social activist who grew up in the ashram and whose parents still live in the area said if Gandhi was alive, he would not have approved of the project.

“Here, a political party which belongs to the ideology that killed Gandhi, and says nothing when Nathuram Godse is worshipped, is doing all this,” she alleged.

An archival image of the ashram | Commons
An archival image of the ashram | Commons

“I am afraid that they want to remove Gandhi from the collective memory of this country. You ask anybody who visits the ashram and they will tell you how they get inspired by the simplicity with which Gandhi lived, how world leaders come and sit on the floor here, the way Gandhi used to,” Vidrohi said.

“The ashram doesn’t need to be made into a ‘world-class memorial’ — it is already world-class and people take inspiration from it. And nothing is being promised in writing (by the government), they are only saying things verbally. Why should we believe them,” Vidrohi asked.

The discomfort with the government proposal is shared by Gandhi’s great-grandson, Tushar.

“The grand allocation of the over Rs 1,200 crore budget is a disturbing factor, for an ashram that belonged to someone who lived so frugally and simplistically -— Sabarmati Ashram is the example of that frugality. If the government is honest in its intention, why is it not having a janta darbar and saying these are the plans that we intend to implement and we plan to do it with the consensus of people,” he asked.

“We saw what they did with the Statue of Unity (a statue of Sardar Vallabhbahi Patel inaugurated in Gujarat in 2018). The height of the statue, the waterpark, the butterfly park etc, became more important than the man himself. Are such things also going to happen with Sabarmati Ashram?” asked Tushar Gandhi.

“If that is the intention, then it must not be allowed. I have been speaking to the ashram trust over this developing situation for more than one-and-a-half years, and I was always told, ‘we don’t know anything’. And now suddenly they are behaving that they knew everything and they were in the information loop all the time.

“We are raising questions because we have been kept in the dark. The issue here is absolute lack of transparency and the unnecessary expense that is being incurred. If Bapu was alive, we would have gone on a hunger strike against this,” Gandhi told ThePrint.


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‘Apprehensions will be resolved once details are worked out’

Dismissing allegations of extravagance, a source in HCP told ThePrint on condition of anonymity, “The budget of Rs 1,200 crore looks big because people only see the ashram as the five-acre complex housing the museum and Hriday Kunj. But this work is going to be spread across 55 acres, as well as the surrounding areas.”

The Ashram trustees also assure that there is no need for apprehension.

“Certain things have not been worked out yet, so there are apprehensions, which many people have. These will resolve once the details get worked out,” Kartikeya Sarabhai, trustee, Sabarmati Ashram Preservation and Memorial Trust (SAPMT), told ThePrint.

“One major apprehension people have is that we are trying to make it into a Gandhi theme park, but the government is also very clear that this is not a greenfield project, it is a site where something very historical happened. There is a larger agreement on certain things around the ashram that need to be changed, but how to translate that into actuality, is something that needs to be carefully done. The dialogue will go on for several months.”

His faith in the project is echoed by ashram director, Atul Pandya, who shared that the plan to develop some basic facilities and divert the Ashram Road traffic had been in the pipeline for some time.

“The discussion among stakeholders, among the larger welfare community regarding the autonomy of the trust is important and is undergoing. Their concern is right, but there are no such proposals to create anything ultra-modern or world-class. The basic structures will not be disturbed. All those who come here, come with a feeling of devotion, they do not come for five-star facility,” he told ThePrint.

A statue of Gandhi at the ashram | Unnati Sharma | ThePrint
A statue of Gandhi at the ashram | Unnati Sharma | ThePrint

Meanwhile, another ashram trustee, while agreeing that there was a need to change a few things, told ThePrint that he felt the process should have been more collaborative and democratic.

“Personally, I would say that we have wanted the Ashram Road, which has become a busy, commercial road, to be diverted for a long time. We should not have let that happen. Here, ‘we’ is not just the six trusts, but also the citizens. We couldn’t retain the peaceful environment around the ashram. However, one thing that hurts is how the Trust and other stakeholders were not involved since the beginning of this plan,” said trustee Sudarshan Iyengar.

“This (the project proposal) should have been a participative, collaborative process. Now we (the trustees) have mentioned that we have certain conditions — we have a problem with the usage of words like ‘world-class’, ‘tourist’. We are also asking them to retain the autonomy of the trusts. If the government does not approve of some of our conditions or makes changes that are not acceptable to us, we can also do a Satyagraha. We have not said this to the government yet, but this is an option,” Iyengar told ThePrint.

The first ashram set up by Gandhi in India, after his return from South Africa, is about six km away from Sabarmati Ashram. Set up in 1915, the Kochrab Ashram was, however, felt to be too small for some of the things Gandhi wanted to put in practice, khadi weaving, harijan seva etc…  Thus was formed the ashram on the banks of the Sabarmati.

Many milestones of Gandhi’s life were reached here — it was here that he wrote his autobiography.

Before embarking on the Salt march, Gandhi had promised not to return to the ashram before attaining Swaraj (independence). The Ashram was disbanded in 1933, but after his death, his associates and followers formed the Sabarmati Ashram Preservation and Memorial Trust (SAPMT), in order to protect the buildings and archival possessions of the ashram.

There are currently has six autonomous trusts associated with the ashram — SAPMT, the Sabarmati Ashram Gaushala Trust, Harijan Ashram Trust, Harijan Sevak Sangh, Gujarat Khadi Gramodyog Mandal and Khadi Gramodyog Prayog Samiti.

As part of the renovation plan, a coordination trust will be put in place, while the different authorities and trusts will “continue to operate autonomously”, a statement released by SAPMT on 27 August claimed.

“The Prime Minister has indicated that he does not envisage this effort as a way of governmentalizing the precinct, but rather a way of ensuring that each visitor gets the experience that would be befitting this historic place,” the statement added.

The proposed date for the completion of the development project is three years away. Meanwhile, as the setting August sun washed the ashram in its saffron light, children ran to sit in the lap of Gandhi, or rather a giant statue of the Mahatma between Hriday Kunj and the museum. A few others gathered around it and broke into an impromptu rendition of the leader’s favourite bhajan, Raghupati Raghav.

(Edited by Poulomi Banerjee)


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