Skip to main content

Modi "removed" name of author Mahadev Desai, "changed" title of Bhagwad Gita presented to Obama

 Just one day ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's second meeting with President Barack Obama in US, Mahatma Gandhi's secretary Mahadevbhai Desai's grandson has made a serious allegation against Modi – that the Bhagwad Gita's version Modi presented to Obama during his previous visit was actually authored by his grandfather. Yet, Modi not only changed the title, he even removed Mahadev Desai's name.
Mahadev Desai's grandson Nachiketa Desai is one of the senior-most journalists of Gujarat who is currently working as consulting editor (political) with the United News of India, and has been associated with Swaraj Abhiyan, the breakaway group of Aam Aadmi Party.
He has said in a Facebook post, “During his visit to the US as Prime Minister, the Bhagwad Gita which Modi presented to Obama was actually written by my grandfather Mahadev Desai.” He added, the "truth" is that Modi presented Obama "with a doctored version of my grandfather's book."
He goes on to say, “Its cover was changed, so was its name, in order to come up with a 'new' book. The original title of the book was 'The Gospel of Selfless Action or The Gita According to Gandhi', and the one that was presented to Obama was 'Bhagwat Gita According to Gandhi'. Even the name of the author has disappeared.”
Nachiketa Desai comments, “This is like pasting 'College' on 'Colgate'.” Calling him “Feku” (pretender) without naming him, the journalist says, the Prime Minister is “not just guilty of befooling the people of India by selling fake promises, he also befooling US president Obama.”
The photographs released by the journalist show that Mahadev Desai's book was published by the Navjivan Publishing House, Ahmedabad, founded by Mahatma Gandhi. The author's name is there on the book. However, the Bhagwad Gita presented by Modi to Obama calls it “special edition”, with the following wordings, “Presented by Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi.” There is no name of Mahadev Desai on the cover.
Modi presented Bhagwad Gita to Obama on September 30, 2014 during the dinner hosted at the White House. On gifting the sacred book, Modi had said, India's guiding philosophy was inspired by Buddha and Mahatma Gandhi as far as India is concerned. “We believe in non-violence,” he had added.
Nachiketa Desai's exposure comes just a week after the Government of India refused to part with any details about Bhagwad Gita presented to Obama under the right to information (RTI) plea by RTI activist from Ahmedabad, Roshan Shah. In reply to Shah, the Ministry of External Affairs says, “No information is available.”
It added, the ministry is not supposed to give information on the basis of queries which are actually inferences and assumptions or which seek to interpret them, hence the application is “disposed of.” Shah had sought information on who was the author of the “Bhagvad Gita book presented to Barack Obama by Narendra Modi?, Who was the publisher of this Bhagvad Gita book?”, and “did Narendra Modi add any forward inside the book?”
The applicant further asked the ministry, “Was the book title changed from its original title? Was the author or publishers permission taken by PMO before changing the title? Please provide copy of the bill used for purchase of the book. From which store/organization was the book purchased? Who recommended to present the book to Obama?”
The applicant went on to add, “Who all approved to present the book to Obama? Who all read the book in PMO before it was offered as gift to Obama to ensure that there was no vulgar language in it? Did the book underwent security checks before it was presented to Obama and at which locations?”, and finally, “What is the ISBN of the book?”

Comments

TRENDING

Is hiding promise of bribe in India a crime in US? That's what CNN reports on Adanis

A top ex-bureaucrat -- whom I know as one of the most reasonable analysts -- has forwarded me a CNN story   titled "Billionaire Gautam Adani indicted in New York on bribery charges". The ex-official has wondered why is Indian media quiet about the news. I can't say why India media is quiet, but, written by  Ramishah Maruf, and datelined New York, the story quotes a US Department of Justice statement as saying that Adani and other executives were "indicted" in New York for "roles" in a multi-billion-dollar fraud scheme.

Will Supreme Court also come forward to end legally-sanctioned segregation on religious lines in Gujarat?

My Vadodara-based activist-friend, Jagdish Patel, who has long championed the cause of the victims of silicosis, a deadly occupational disease, has forwarded to me an interesting blog by the executive editor of Pulitzer Center, Marina Walker Guevara, written in the context of the U.S. election results, in which Donald Trump has won.

Modi govt distancing from Adanis? MoEFCC 'defers' 1500 MW project in Western Ghats

Is the Narendra Modi government, in its third but  what would appear to be a weaker avatar, seeking to show that it would keep a distance, albeit temporarily, from its most favorite business house, the Adanis? It would seem so if the latest move of the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) latest to "defer" the Adani Energy’s application for 1500 MW Warasgaon-Warangi Pump Storage Project is any indication. Quoting the September 27 MoEFCC's Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) meeting,  released on October 2, a senior scholar-activist of the top environmental advocacy group South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People (SANDRP) has  reported  that in a "respite" to forest dwelling communities, fragile biodiversity and community conservation areas, the EAC has "rejected" the Adani application for project. However, the window for continuing with the controversial project hasn't been entirely closed. To quote Parineeta Dandekar, the

NHRC failing to 'effectively address' human rights violations: NGO groups tell UN-linked body

In a joint submission to the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions' (GANHRI's) Sub Committee on Accreditation (SCA), two civil society groups -- All India Network of NGOs and Individuals working with National and State Human Rights Institutions (AiNNI) and Asian NGO Network on National Human Rights Institutions (ANNI) --  have said that the  National Human Rights Commission's (NHRC's) accreditation, deferred in  2016, 2023, and 2024, fails to find space on its website. In their submission to the top global body which coordinates the relationship between NHRIs and the United Nations human rights system, AiNNI and ANNI said, the accreditation status of NHRC "has not been updated" since 2017, and as of September 21, 2024, the "website falsely states that the NHRC has retained its 'A' accreditation status from SCA for four consecutive five-year terms." They added, such omission diminishes "civil society's trust" in N

Two persons with old typewriters off SLC's fashionable street, writing poems on postcards!

A few days back, after taking a round of beautiful hills surrounding Salt Lake City (SLC), we drove down to a popular, somewhat fashionable spot -- Harvey Milk Blvd -- not very far from the Down Town. We visited a few shops, where mainly souvenirs were being sold, and also a few sex toys! Finally, we visited an ice cream parlour, where we tasted Italian ice cream. It is a well decorated parlour, with different coloured lovely goodies  hanging across the restaurant. I took a lemon flavoured ice cream -- really liked it. The parlour is called Dolcetti Gelato. Thereafter, while returning to take the car, we found two persons sitting on outdoor chairs, with old manual typewriters on makeshift tables. They were typing out exactly the same way I used to in 1980s to do my stories before faxing them from Moscow to Patriot office in Delhi.

That's true of Gujarat too: Patna HC says, Bihar's liquor ban led to illegal liquor trade; cops, officials love it

A recent Patna High Court judgment on alcohol ban in Bihar can as well be applied to Gujarat. As reported by a legal news portal, under the title "State's Alcohol Ban Led To Illegal Liquor Trade; Police, Excise, Tax, Transport Dept Officials Love The Ban As It Means Big Money: Patna HC",  the story by Malavika Prasad says that while quashing the penalty of demotion imposed on an inspector on the ground that he had been negligent in implementing the excise prohibition law, the Patna High Court observed that though  the law was passed with the objective of improving public health, "for several reasons, it finds itself on the wrong side of the history".

When Congress leaders in Gujarat forgot to remember Jawaharlal Nehru on November 14

It was November 14, Jawaharlal Nehru’s 135th birth anniversary. While the national leaders everywhere – ranging from Congress’ bigwigs to Narendra Modi and Rajnath Singh – paid their tributes to the India’s first Prime Minister who also happened to be one of the most important freedom fighters, I was a little surprised: The Congress leaders in my state, Gujarat, seemed to ignore him at the place where mediapersons were called to interact with them.