To the Editor:

Re: “Arun Gandhi, Mahatma’s Grandson, Urges Nonviolence in Speech at University” News, Feb. 14

I was surprised and disappointed to see that the article concerning Arun Gandhi’s address to the University had no mention of the controversy surrounding comments made by Mr. Gandhi in an opinion piece for The Washington Post in January 2008. In the piece, Gandhi stated that Israel and the Jewish community “overplay a historic experience to the point that it begins to repulse friends” in reference to the Holocaust, adding that Israel has made a “snake pit” out of the tragedy enforced by its “superior weapons and armaments and [its] attitude toward [its] neighbors.” These comments provoked substantial outcry and ultimately led to the dissolution of the M.K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence only weeks afterward. Mr. Gandhi certainly has the right to express his opinion, yet I would hope that such views held by the article’s subject would be assessed in conjunction with the positive opinions offered. Mr. Gandhi's views on non-violence should not be sheltered from the regrettable view that, as he wrote in The Washington Post, “We have created a culture of violence (Israel and the Jews are the biggest players) and that Culture of Violence is eventually going to destroy humanity,” despite these comments being the kind that Mr. Gandhi would rather not be faced with again.

Em Ludek ’12