By IANS
Mumbai : Mahatma Gandhi’s relics are scattered all over the world. One more urn containing his ashes – one of the last anywhere in the world – is in possession of Yogananda Ashram in Los Angeles, California.
Mahatma Gandhi’s great grandson Tushar Gandhi, who lives in Mumbai, has been asking the ashram authorities to immerse the ashes as soon as possible.
“However, I have not yet heard anything from them on the issue. I feel that in the 60th year of Gandhiji’s martyrdom, the ashes should be immersed,” Tushar told IANS Tuesday morning.
Meanwhile, another urn containing the ashes of Mahatma Gandhi in Mumbai will be taken out in a procession Wednesday morning – marking the 60th anniversary of Gandhiji’s assassination in Delhi.
The procession will begin at 8:45 a.m. in an open jeep from Mani Bhavan, where it has been kept, to the historic Chowpatty Beach. Nilamben Parekh, granddaughter of Mahatma Gandhi’s estranged son Harilal, will immerse the urn one km in the sea from the pier.
The procession assumes significance as this line of the family has never taken part in any of the previous rites. The urn will be accorded a 21-gun salute in the presence of India’s Home Minister Shivraj Patil, Governor of Maharashtra S.M. Krishna, Deputy Chief Minister R.R. Patil and other dignitaries from different walks of life.
Nearly 15 descendents of all the four sons of the Mahatma – Harilal, Manilal, Ramdas and Devdas – will be present. The son of Sriman Narayan, an ex-governor of Gujarat, handed over the ashes to Mani Bhavan two months ago.
“Since 1948, Narayan and his wife kept this urn with them. When they passed away, their son Bharat who lives in Dubai did not know what to do with the urn so he handed it over to Mani Bhavan,” said Tushar Gandhi, who is overseeing the arrangements for the event.
There were talks of preserving Mahatma Gandhi’s urn, but Tushar felt that this would turn Mani Bhavan into a shrine. “I thought this would lead to deification. So I appealed to the trustees to immerse the ashes,” Tushar said.