This Gandhi Jayanthi, let’s ponder: 'Do you know what kind of India he envisioned?'

While Gandhiji’s legacy remains contested - we may agree that Hind Swaraj was among his most visionary works.

Hind Swaraj laid out Gandhi’s fundamental ideas about the kind of society he believed India should strive to become after gaining independence.

Yet, over the years, we have reduced Gandhiji to a familiar caricature - the “Father of the Nation” - without necessarily engaging with his original writings and ideas. As a result, many of us may know the symbol, but not his vision.

What, then, was Gandhi’s vision for India? And how much of it have we actually lived up to?

Few have engaged with his original writings. Yet, as early as 1909, Gandhi set out a profound vision of self-rule and nation-building in Hind Swaraj - a small book with ideas that remain deeply relevant to India and the world.

Hind Swaraj explores Gandhi’s thinking on civilisation, development, democracy, education, economics, sustainability, technology, self-governance, livelihoods and our relationship with nature. It challenges the assumption that political independence alone constitutes true freedom, and calls instead for a society rooted in self-reliance, decentralisation, social justice, human dignity and ecological balance.

At a time of climate change, environmental destruction, widening inequality, social divisions and an increasingly unsustainable model of development, many of the questions raised in Hind Swaraj are more relevant than ever.

But, how can we know when most of us have never even heard of it, leave alone read it?

Hind Swaraj should be recognised as the National Book of India, so that every generation has the opportunity to encounter, question and engage with the ideas that shaped one of the most influential visions of India’s freedom.

This is not about treating Gandhi’s ideas as unquestionable. His legacy, like that of every historical figure, deserves critical engagement. Declaring Hind Swaraj the National Book would simply ensure that his ideas are widely read, discussed and evaluated - not reduced to slogans or symbols.

Let us read Gandhi before we decide what his vision means. Let us rediscover Hind Swaraj. Let us ask what kind of India we have built - and what kind of India we still aspire to become.

Sign the petition to demand Hind Swaraj as the National Book of India.