A flashy theme park’: outcry over Modi’s plans for the Gandhi ashram https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/feb/25/a-flashy-theme-park-outcry-over-modis-plans-for-the-gandhi-ashram Hannah Ellis-Petersen in Ahmedabad 25 Feb 2022
The site Mahatma Gandhi lived at during 1917-30 is getting a very costly makeover many think is meant to distort his legacy
a grandiose plan by the government to redevelop the site into a “world class tourist destination” at a staggering cost of 12bn rupees (£117m). Descendants of Gandhi, historians, scholars, Gandhian institutions and lifelong ashram residents have accused the government, led by the prime minister, Narendra Modi, of attempting to co-opt and politicise Gandhi’s legacy to suit their own Hindu nationalist agenda and turning the Sabarmati ashram into a flashy Gandhi “theme park”.
over the decades the ashram has fallen victim to the pressures of urbanisation. Its once sprawling 48-hectare (120 acre) grounds have been eroded to around two hectares and busy four-lane road was built through it. The surrounding area became filled with ramshackle housing, concrete hotels, roadside restaurants and garish shops selling cheap tourist wares. Squatters moved into the residential areas and businesses incompatible with Gandhi’s teaching – a cow artificial insemination centre being one – were set up in the ashram grounds.
Under their new development plan – which unusually is being run directly from the prime minister’s office – the ashram site will be expanded to 20 hectares, given a sleek makeover with new Gandhi museums and monuments erected and other structures knocked down.
Yet the government has faced considerable criticism over a lack of transparency for the redevelopment, including the unilateral appointment of Modi’s favoured architect for all his flagship projects, and lack of consultation with Gandhi scholars and institutions.
The redevelopment has also faced criticism over the decision to evict the 400 or so families living in the ashram grounds, some whom are descendants of the Dalit families brought there by Gandhi himself. Gandhi left explicit instructions that these families should be allowed to stay in perpetuity and that the ashram should for ever work for the uplift of Dalits, the lowest in India’s caste system who were referred to as “untouchables” in Gandhi’s time.
For almost two years, the residents protested against their eviction but now over half have accepted what the government described as a “generous” package: either 6 million rupees compensation, or a new four-bedroom high-rise apartment.