On 9th February1948, Periyar passed on these recommendations regarding suitable memorial for Gandhi to the All India Congress Committee, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, C. Rajagopalachari, Vallabhbhai Patel, Rajendra Prasad and Jayaprakash Narayan.
“It is essential that a memorial is erected for Gandhi. It must be permanent and most beneficial to the people. My humble suggestions are:
* The name of India can be changed as Gandhi Desam or Gandhistan.
* The name of ‘Hinduism’ can be changed to Gandhism or Gandhi Religion.
* ‘Hindus’ may be called ‘Men of True Wisdom’.
* As per the doctrine of Gandhism, India will have only one community of people. There will be no castewise division (varnasrama). The doctrine will be based on love and wisdom. It will follow the path of truth. Instead of following the Christian era, we may start following Gandhian Era.
This will create a situation wherein Gandhi will be considered equal to Buddha, Krishna or Mohammed. We will be respected by the entire world. Institutions like Arya Samaj and Brahma Samaj could not get any tangible success, which Buddhism, Christianity and Islam could. This is because they have been patronized by the Governments of the day. India has a population of over thirty crores. If Gandhism is made State Religion, it is bound to succeed. All the superstitions, ignorance and fanatic jamborees will come to an end.
It is high time for such a reform. A part of India (the province of Sindhu) has now become Pakistan. Similarly, the name of India can also be changed. The names ‘Hindu’ and ‘India’, based on the name of the river Sindhu have been given by foreigners. This has been admitted by many scholars including Gandhi. If such changes are brought about as a result of Gandhi’s assassination, there will be few instances of religion, social, caste conflicts in future.”
