The 2018 Khadi Village Industries Commission’s calendar brought Mahatma Gandhi back on its cover, the Hindustan Times reported. Gandhi shares space with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
In the 2017 calendar, the commission had replaced Gandhi with Modi in both the wall calendars and desk desk diaries, leading to protests by upset workers.
This year, the Khadi Commission calendars have Gandhi’s image on the upper half, while Modi and Union minister of state for micro small and medium enterprises Giriraj Singh’s photos have been printed on the lower half.
Modi is shown dressed in a cream kurta and white churidar, seated cross-legged and weaving khadi on a modern charkha. “PM Modiji’s picture is there on the cover pages,” commission chairman VK Saxena told IANS. “Gandhiji is always in our midst.”
Protests in 2017
The 2017 calendars and diaries with a similar image of Modi led to a section of khadi workers protesting at the Vile Parle headquarters in Mumbai, and other cities in India.
The protestors said Gandhi was intrinsic to the Khadi movement and demanded that all the calendars be reprinted. They said they were not against Modi’s inclusion, but were objecting to how Gandhi was replaced.
The commission had responded saying Modi’s picture was on the 2017 calendars to mark a “historical moment” when the prime minister distributed 500 charkhas among women in Ludhiana.
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