WWGD? Gandhi’s Spirit Hovers as India Debates Iodized Salt. “India has made

tremendous progress in

eradicating the ancient

scourge of iodine deficiency

— the single most

preventable cause of mental

retardation — by making

cheap, iodized salt available

to most of its billion people.

But a recent government

decision has jeopardized

these advances, medical

researchers say.

Indeed, India’s entire

scientific establishment,

including the Indian Medical

Association and the Indian

National Science Academy,

seems aghast that Prime

Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee

and his Health Ministry lifted a two-year-old ban on the sale

of noniodized salt in September. In doing so, the

government bowed to a lobbying campaign by Hindu

nationalists, Gandhians and small- scale salt producers.

…Those on both sides of iodization claim to be the true

inheritors of Gandhi’s legacy. The scientists say Gandhi

would be happy that salt has become a way to ensure that

even India’s poorest children do not have their intelligence

dulled by a lack of iodine, while some followers of Gandhi

contend that he would object to the compulsory iodization

of salt.” New York Times