Harilal Gandhi was the eldest son of Mahatma Gandhi and Kasturba Gandhi , and a satyagrahi in the Indian independence movement. He had a troubled life, renounced his family, converted to Islam and Hinduism, and died of tuberculosis in 1948. Harilal Gandhi was the eldest son of Father of Nation – Mahatma Gandhi and his wife, Kasturba Gandhi. He had three younger brothers – Manilal Gandhi, Ramdas Gandhi and Devdas Gandhi. Gandhi ’s response to Harilal ’s apostasy is a masterful lesson for the son and the nation –— especially New India –— in the difficult art of balancing the conflicting demands of empathy and morality. In a press statement, Gandhi declared that he respected the autonomy of choice, a trait that is rare in Modi’s India, but insisted on the principles of purity and, obliquely, pluralism. Harilal had daddy issues because Gandhi was too busy in political activities to make time for his family. He did a lot of questionable things to get back at him.
