We must dismantle privilege to honour regional identities: Retired JNU Prof Janaki Nair

Bengaluru: A new approach to action must be rooted in deep respect for regional culture, language and identities, and accompanied by the same willingness Mahatma Gandhi showed to dismantle privilege, even if done alone, said Prof Janaki Nair, retired history professor from Jawaharlal Nehru University, on Friday.

She was speaking at a talk titled ‘Reflecting with Gandhi in Contemporary Times’ organised by the National Gallery of Modern Art in collaboration with the Department of Kannada and Culture, commemorating Gandhi Jayanti.

Discussing Gandhi's life through his walks and marches, she highlighted two significant journeys he undertook in India. "One at the height of his influence as the Mahatma, and the other as a lonely, beleaguered man — perhaps even considered irrelevant — but still driven by a deeply political concern, not merely humanitarian," she remarked.

Citing the Dandi March, she called it a "pilgrimage of what Gandhi termed a 'war of love' and a test of Ahimsa against the might of a brutal regime — a battle for nothing less than India's self-respect".

She further noted that Gandhi's 1930 satyagraha, where he broke the salt law, was described by him as a "secret pilgrimage", one that involved inward movement, self-purification and constant self-examination.

During the event, special postcards featuring Haripura Panels by artist Nandalal Bose were released by LK Dash, Postmaster General, Bengaluru HQ.