The wartime leader fighting against Hitler even gleefully noted in official papers the possibility of Gandhi dying in prison, his funeral arrangements, and then ruefully remarked that Gandhi failed to oblige the British! When Gandhi was killed, Churchill was probably the one statesman who did not to condole it. But contrast this with his amazing remarks to Gandhi’s English disciple Mirabehn, when he said he admired Gandhi for his efforts for moral and social uplift. And to thwart Gandhi, Churchill secretly gave all support to Gandhi’s other implacable enemy, Mohammed Ali Jinnah, as his official biographer has revealed.

And Gandhi? Aside from a letter he wrote to Churchill in 1944, which the prime minister never received, there is only one recorded direct comment on him. In 1935, Gandhi told G.D. Birla: “I have got a good recollection of Mr Churchill when he was in the colonial office, and somehow or other since then I have held the opinion that I can always rely on his sympathy and goodwill.” He had earlier tried to meet Churchill in 1931, but had been refused.

Churchill’s virtues were many and his greatness is undoubted. But in the case of India, all his negative traits were given free play, and magnified to the point that his reputation has been greatly marred, and ability questioned. Gandhi’s personal response to Churchill was no different from his reactions to others — respectful and almost affectionate, totally without rancour. In short, quintessentially Gandhi.