Mahatma Gandhi’s Granddaughter Usha Gokani Passes Away At 89

Usha Gokani Demise: Usha Gokani, Mahatma Gandhi's granddaughter, died on Tuesday in Mumbai. Gokani, 89, had been bedridden for the last two years after being ill for five years.

File Photo Of Mahatma Gandhi's Granddaughter Usha Gokani

Source : AFP

Mahatma Gandhi’s granddaughter Usha Gokani passed away in Mumbai on Tuesday. According to Mani Bhavan executive secretary Meghshyam Ajgaonkar, Gokani, 89, had been ill for five years and had been bedridden for the last two years, news agency PTI reported. 

Gokani was the former chairperson of the Gandhi Smarak Nidhi in Mumbai, which is housed in the historic Mani Bhavan.

She spent her childhood at Gandhiji's Sevagram Ashram in Wardha.

Gandhi Smarak Nidhi Mumbai was founded with the goal of carrying out and promoting various constructive activities associated with Mahatma Gandhi during his lifetime.

The Smarak Nidhi officially began operations on October 2, 1955, when Mani Bhavan was transferred to the then Gandhi Memorial Society.

From 1917 to 1934, Mahatma Gandhi frequently stayed at Mani Bhavan, which bears witness to some of the country's most historic decisions and movements.

Mani Bhavan is home to two organisations that aim to propagate Gandhian ideas: Gandhi Smarak Nidhi Mumbai and Mani Bhavan Gandhi Sangrahalaya.

In 2016, Usha Gokani's brother, and Mahatma Gandhi's grandson Kanu Ramdas Gandhi died in a private hospital in Gujarat's Surat.

Kanu was famous for walking ahead of Mahatma Gandhi, who prodded him with his stick on the beaches of Gujarat's Dandi village during the historic Salt Satyagraha of March-April 1930.

Kanu was a NASA scientist as well. He suffered a heart attack and a brain haemorrhage, which paralysed half of his body and sent him into a coma from which he never recovered.

Another sister of Kanu and Usha Gandhi, Sumitra Gandhi Kulkarni, former Rajya Sabha MP was in news last year, as she launched website named "The Modi Story".

(With Inputs From Agencies)