British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who came to India on his two-day visit, reached Gujarat’s capital Ahmedabad on Thursday and visited Sabarmati Ashram. He spun the spinning wheel there and expressed his concurrence towards Gandhiji’s thoughts and feelings. It is a coincidence that 100 years ago, the place where the British government had made Mahatma Gandhi stand while pronouncing the sentence of treason, 100 years later, in front of the picture of Mahatma Gandhi, the head of the British government, Boris Johnson, stood with folded hands.
Judge CN Broomfield of Ahmedabad District Court sentenced him to sedition. During the hearing of this case, the judge accepted that Gandhi is a ‘great patriot and a great leader’ in the eyes of crores of Indians. And even those who differ politically from him consider Gandhi a ‘man with great ideals’.
Gandhi was sentenced to six years, which according to him was the lightest sentence a judge could have given in this case. Although he was sent to jail, the entire trial was a major political victory for him. He had revived the movement; New energy was infused in the public.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Thursday described Mahatma Gandhi as an “extraordinary man” who emphasized the principles of truth and non-violence to make the world a better place.
Johnson became the first British Prime Minister to visit the Sabarmati Ashram. From the Sabarmati Ashram, Mahatma Gandhi led India’s movement for independence from British colonial rule for more than a decade. Johnson wrote in the visitor’s book to the Gandhi Ashram, “It is a great privilege to be in the ashram of this extraordinary man and to understand how he emphasized the simple principles of truth and non-violence to make the world a better place.”
On this occasion, the Ashram Trust presented him two books including an unpublished guide written by Mahatma Gandhi himself for those wishing to stay in London. Ashram spokesperson Virat Kothari said Johnson, after arriving at the Ahmedabad airport on Thursday morning, went to the Sabarmati Ashram where he was received by Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and the ashram’s trustee Kartikeya Sarabhai.
Mahatma Gandhi resided in this ashram from 1917 to 1930. The spokesperson said that Sarabhai, on behalf of the Sabarmati Ashram Preservation and Memorial Trust, presented two books and a replica of the spinning wheel to Johnson, who stayed here for about 30 minutes. He said that after paying floral tributes to Mahatma Gandhi, Johnson went to ‘Hriday Kunj’ where Mahatma Gandhi lived. He then went to “Mira Kutir” where Gandhi’s English-born follower Miraben or Madeline Sledge lived.