Prominent Gandhian Natwar Thakkar passes away

On 7th October 2018, Gandhian Natwar Thakkar died following a short term illness, in Guwahati, Assam.

• Natwar Thakkar was 86 years old. He was born in 1932 in the then Bombay Presidency. He was a recipient of Padmashree award.
• Since 1955 he had worked among the tribals of Nagaland to spread the message of Mahatma Gandhi. He was popularly known as ‘Nagaland’s Gandhi’.
• In 1955, he had set up a “Nagaland Gandhi Ashram” in Chuchuyimlang village in Nagaland.

Natwar Thakkar

• Natwar Thakkar (1932 – 7 October 2018), popularly known as Natwar bhai, was an Indian social worker who worked in Nagaland. He came from Maharashtra but migrated to Nagaland for social work at the age of 23. He founded the Nagaland Gandhi Ashram at Chuchuyimlang village in the Mokokchung district of Nagaland. Because of his efforts to spread Gandhian philosophy in Nagaland and his social work, he was known as "Nagaland's Gandhi".
• At that time, the Naga rebels and the Indian army were constantly at "war" and hence the militants considered any "Indian" as a "spy" and they warned villagers not to shelter or aid Thakkar.
• Thakkar assisted residents in "various development and income generating activities", including beekeeping, gur production, oil ghanis, a biogas plant, a mechanised carpentry workshop, and Khadi sales outlets. Apart from popularising Khadi, he has also started a vocational training centre for school drop-outs and the physically-handicapped children.
• During his stay in Nagaland, he was attacked and threatened by insurgents several times and warned to leave the state. Jawaharlal Nehru, the then Prime Minister of India, had encouraged Thakkar to stay in the village and to continue his work; Nehru also allotted funds to promote his initiatives. Thakkar acted as an intermediary between the army and villagers and tried to strengthen bonds by personal talks and discussions. Villagers also appealed to militants not to harm Thakkar.
• Due to Thakkar's efforts, an extension centre of National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology was started in Chuchuyimlang village in 2006. It is a government-funded institute equipped with the latest technology.
• Acknowledging the efforts of Thakkar, villagers donated 232 acres (94 ha) of land to the "Nagaland Gandhi Ashram" for construction of the "Mahatma Gandhi centre of Social Work (MGCSW)". The Tata Institute of Social Sciences has shown interest in becoming associated with this institute.

By: Ziyaur Rahman