India, Feb. 2 -- January 30 marks the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi. Martyrs' Day stands apart in India's public calendar. It carries the quintessence of grief, warning, and responsibility. To most of our citizens, it does not carry any meaning; many may not even be aware of such a practice. Yet, the silence observed at 11 am each year does more than honour sacrifice. Since the ascent of the Saffron ideology to the nation's highest chair, it symbolises the pause before power rewrites memory.

Gandhi's killing was a political murder. It emerged from an ideology that rejected pluralism, distrusted constitutionalism, and viewed violence as a form of correction. Remembering this truth remains the core purpose of Martyrs' Day.

In recent yea...