Mahatma Gandhi was 'quite a complicated being': Minister at book release event
New Delhi (PTI): The role and contribution of Mahatma Gandhi in India's freedom struggle is well documented and he was "quite a complicated being", Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Wednesday.
"He had actually asked for mobilisation of India's help for the war effort during the First World War," Mr Puri said.
The minister was addressing an event organised in Delhi to release a book, titled 'The Reverse Swing - Colonialism to Cooperation', authored by veteran journalist and Prasar Bharati board member Ashok Tandon.
"One chapter (in the book) is on Mahatma Gandhi - an apostle of peace for Britons. We are all disciples of the Father of the Nation. His role in building India, creating a link between an elitist national movement and the masses, fusing that, (all that) is very well documented," Mr Puri said.
"But let me tell you Mahatma himself was quite a complicated being," he said, adding, "While still in the UK, he (Gandhi) actually asked for mobilisation of India's help for the war effort in the First World War. That's well documented." Puri said that Gandhi's "initial life" in the UK, and his education prepared him for an "English-style barrister".
"When he goes to South Africa, it is then the Gandhi that we know and the Gandhi who contributed to our national movement begins to mature," he added.
Referring to the content of the book, Mr Puri said there is a chapter in it about how India overtook the UK to become the world's fifth-largest economy.
"I think most of us relish that," he said, adding, "When we become the third largest economy and we overtake Japan and Germany, I don't think we will enjoy that much."
The Union minister said the Indo-British cooperation in the "aviation sector, telecommunications, all these" are relevant in understanding the dynamics of the current bilateral relationship between India and the UK.
The Indian-origin community in the UK has given "shape and content" to India's relationship with the UK far more than what a diaspora can do elsewhere, he said.
"I hope the India-UK free trade agreement actually sees the light of the day," he said.
Participating in a panel discussion on the book, Tondon, the author, talked about a chapter on the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre and said many, from the Queen to the British Prime Minister, have expressed regret over the incident but they have never officially apologised for it.
"Is it something to do with the British system that when you apologised for some crime and there is a provision for (giving) compensation?" he asked.
With several friends from my college days & former colleagues as part of the distinguished audience, launch of the book ‘The Reverse Swing: Colonialism to Cooperation’ by another good friend for the past many decades, Sh @AshokTandon Ji turned out to be a reunion of sorts! pic.twitter.com/wtxXMNVEoA
— Hardeep Singh Puri (@HardeepSPuri) October 18, 2023
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Standoff between Delhi, Shimla police after arrest of 3 Youth Congress activists
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Shimla/New Delhi (PTI): In an ugly face-off, Himachal Pradesh police on Wednesday registered a kidnapping case against Delhi police personnel and "detained" their vehicles at the Shogi border near Shimla when they were heading back to the national capital with three Youth Congress members arrested in connection with the "shirtless protest" at the AI Summit.
"A case has been registered against 15-20 unknown people in plain clothes for forcibly taking three people staying in a resort in Rohru. They also took the CCTV installed in the resort with them and did not give any receipt," a statement issued by the Shimla police said.
The Delhi police had earlier on Wednesday said it had arrested three Youth Congress activists in connection with the February 20 protest at AI Impact Summit from a hotel in Chirgaon area of Rohru subdivision of Himachal's Shimla district.
Saurabh, Siddharth and Arbaz were apprehended by the Special Cell of Delhi Police. They were produced before a local court, which granted transit remand to enable the police to bring them to Delhi for further questioning, an official of the Delhi police said in the national capital.
Himachal Police sources claimed they intercepted three vehicles in Shimla and Solan districts and brought them back to Shimla as the Delhi police had not taken transit remand.
Both the Shimla police and the Delhi police accused each other of hampering the investigation.
The sources in Himachal Pradesh police claimed the team from Delhi carried out the operation in Shimla without informing the local police.
Acting on this, Himachal Pradesh police intercepted three vehicles carrying the accused -- who are reportedly not residents of Himachal Pradesh -- and Delhi Police personnel.
Two vehicles were stopped in Shimla, while the third was intercepted near Dharampur in Solan district. Around 20 people, including police personnel, were detained, the source said.
The Delhi police personnel again tried to leave for the national capital but were intercepted at Shogi border on Wednesday night on the road to Chandigarh and not allowed to leave.
In a video that appeared from the Shogi border in the suburbs of Shimla city, the Delhi police officers were heard saying that they had arrested three people in the morning in connection with an FIR registered on February 20.
VIDEO | Shimla: A jurisdiction dispute has erupted after the Delhi Police detained three Youth Congress workers in connection with an AI Summit protest pic.twitter.com/H7o7eaYOb8
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) February 25, 2026
"We have to produce the accused arrested at 5 am today in the court in 24 hours, and you have stopped us after registering an FIR at 8 pm," an officer of the Delhi police said.
However, the Shimla police officers maintained that a case of abduction has been registered and the Delhi police is hampering the investigation.
They alleged that the Delhi police carried out an illegal operation at Rohru without informing the local police and no papers of arrest were shown.
"I asked you for a legal document in the morning, but neither have you shown any document nor the FIR number and nor have you taken the transit remand," the officer of Shimla police is heard saying.
The "shirtless" protest at Bharat Mandapam on February 20 had triggered a major security response, with police earlier invoking charges including rioting and promoting enmity under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
Indian Youth Congress president Uday Bhanu Chib and former national spokesperson Bhudev Sharma were arrested in connection with the case on Tuesday. Both were produced before a Delhi court and remanded to police custody for interrogation.
According to the Delhi police, a total of 11 people have been arrested so far.
Earlier, on Saturday midnight, Delhi Police had raided Himachal Sadan in the national capital amid reports that Youth Congress workers who had participated in the protest were provided accommodation there.
Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu had termed the action "unfortunate and against constitutional procedure".
A Delhi court on Wednesday extended by four days the police custody of five of the arrested in the case.
Arguing that the incident was not spontaneous but executed after prior planning, the Delhi police said that the initial probe revealed structured allocation of roles, concealment tactics and coordinated post-incident movement.
It, however, said that the entire conspiracy, including its hierarchy, funding and inter-state coordination, needed to be unearthed.
Chief Judicial Magistrate Mridul Gupta extended the custodial interrogation of the accused -- Krishna Hari, national secretary of the Youth Congress from Bihar; Kundan Yadav, state general secretary of Bihar; Ajay Kumar Singh, state vice-president of eastern Uttar Pradesh; and Narasimha Yadav, national coordinator of IYC from Telangana.
Meanwhile, the Delhi police on Wednesday denied permission to the Delhi Youth Congress to hold a dharna at Jantar Mantar in national capital on February 26, citing short notice and prevailing law and order concerns.
The Delhi Youth Congress had called the dharna on Thursday against the police action on IYC members who had taken part in the February 20 protest.
