Petition to President Obama calls his hero Gandhi “anti-black, anti-woman, pro-war”

View and sign petition here: http://wh.gov/pSLY

Washington, DC, Feb. 11, 2013 – President Obama often cites Mohandas Gandhi as his hero. At times, he has called him “an inspiration” and “a real hero of mine.” In 2008, he claimed Gandhi’s “spirit and example… extinguished apartheid in South Africa.”

South Asian Americans are so convinced Gandhi was no hero that they have launched a petition asking Obama to reassess the Hindu leader. The truth, states the petition, is that President Obama’s admitted hero was anti-black, anti-woman, and pro-war.”

“Gandhi spread casteism, segregation, and racial hatred,” said Dr. Muni Subramani, a director of Organization for Minorities of India (OFMI) and US-based brain and spine specialist. “He called blacks ‘raw Kaffirs’ and praised caste system’s ‘fundamental divisions.’ Yet the Indian state hides behind his mask of divinity. This petition is the best opportunity for South Asian Americans to directly ask the White House to tell the truth about Gandhi.”

The petition states: “Gandhi rejected essential human ideals that all are created equal with right to life and liberty.” Gandhi, it says, pioneered racial segregation in pre-apartheid South Africa, pushed for war on South African blacks, and volunteered in the British Army to help kill Zulus.

The petition further states: “He raped his underage grandnieces, Manu and Abha, for years. He defended the caste system, praising its ‘fundamental divisions.’ He spread violence against non-Hindus.” Gandhi, reminds the petition, was a five-time Nobel Peace Prize reject. He was nominated in 1937, 1938, 1939, 1947 and 1948, but turned down every time.

Gandhi also undermined Sikh efforts for peaceful independence of India, noted Arvin Valmuci of OFMI, saying, “After Bhagat Singh was imprisoned for nonviolent resistance, Gandhi said the British Empire had the right to hang him. Bigotry was more important to Gandhi than peace. Bhagat Singh went on hunger strike to protest the British, but still Gandhi called his way ‘wrong and futile.’”

“Dr Ambedkar knew Gandhi first-hand,” said Valmuci. “Babasaheb warned the world: ‘If a man with God’s name on his tongue and sword under his armpit deserved the appellation of a Mahatma, then Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was a Mahatma.’”

Bhajan Singh, also an OFMI director, suggested US leaders are victimized by propaganda about Gandhi. “Our president must lead in telling the truth about who Gandhi was and what he really did. Gandhi hated blacks and hated Sikhs almost as much. He called Guru Gobind Singh a ‘misguided patriot,’ the Sikh kitchen ‘a menace,’ and kirpan a ‘rusty weapon.’ This petition is our chance to tell the White House to stand for the truth that Gandhi was a villain, not a hero.

Groups Organization for Minorities of India, Bhim Rao Ambedkar Sikh Foundation and Sikh Information Centre are co-sponsoring the petition in partnership with a coalition of US-based Dalit leaders. The petition must reach the threshold of 100,000 signatures by March 6. If it is successful, the White House promises to respond to the issue.