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Musharraf pays tribute to Mahatma Gandhi

Onkar Singh in New Delhi

President Pervez Musharraf visited Rajghat with his wife Begum Sehba after the ceremonial welcome at Rashtrapati Bhavan and placed a floral wreath at the samadhi of Mahatma Gandhi.

He thus became the first Pakistani ruler to visit Rajghat and also the first Pakistani dignitary to do so after foreign minister Agha Shahi on July 16, 1980.

It was drizzling when the Pakistani leader arrived at Rajghat five minutes ahead of schedule. He was received by noted Gandhian Nirmala Deshpande and Union Urban Development Minister Jagmohan, chairman of the Rajghat Samadhi Committee.

Seeing Deshpande, whom he had met twice earlier on her visit to Pakistan this year, the general smiled and remarked: "Nice to see you here."

The general then laid a wreath at the samadhi and paid floral tributes, followed by Begum Musharraf.

Minister of State for Railways Digvijay Singh, Pakistani Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar and High Commissioner in India Ashraf Jehangir Qazi accompanied the general.

Musical rendition of Kabir's couplet 'Ram Rahim ek hain re' was played throughout General Musharraf's 30-minute stay at Rajghat.

Journalists at the venue tried to get a word out of the Pakistani president, but he merely waved at them and said he would speak after the event.

He was then taken to the Rajghat office to sign the visitors' book.

"I have come here to pay respects and homage to the memory of Mahatma Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, the Father of the Indian Nation," the general wrote with a fountain pen in a legible hand. "Mahatma Gandhi devoted his entire life to the struggle for non-violence and peace. Never has the requirement of his ideals been felt more severely than today, specifically in the context of Pakistan-India relations. May his soul rest in eternal peace."

Musharraf was given a set of three books on Gandhi -- a collection of his articles titled 'The Mind of Mahatma Gandhi', his autobiography, 'My Experiments with Truth', and S Radhakrishnan's 'Mahatma Gandhi: 100 Years' -- as also a CD-ROM, a replica of a charkha [spinning wheel] and a framed scroll of the seven social sins enumerated by Gandhi.

In return, the general presented Jagmohan two books, 'Journey to Pakistan', a coffee-table pictorial, and 'Wonders of Karakoram'.

Renowned cartoonist Ranga presented his caricature of Musharraf to the visiting dignitary, who obliged Ranga by signing it.

The general spent about 10 minutes at the complex. The last military rulers to have visited Rajghat were the presidents of Bangladesh, General Zia-ur-Rehman and General H M Ershad.

Indo-Pak Summit 2001: The Complete Coverage

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