Webinar held in Hailakandi on 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi

Sept.29: Commemorating the conclusion of two-year long celebrations of 150th birth anniversary of the father of nation Mohan Das Karamchand Gandhi, a webinar on the ‘Relevance of Gandhianism in modern times’ was held here on Monday evening. Participating in the webinar jointly organised by the district administration and DIPRO, several speakers dwelt at length on the relevance of Gandhianism in today’s context.

In his welcome address, DIPRO, Sabir Nishat said that Gandhianism vis-a-vis its core values, precepts and principles are relevant in present times and hoped that the distinguished speakers would shed more light on it and help inspire and motivate everyone, especially the youth on whose shoulders the nation hinges, to the greater task of nation building.

Speakers all opined that Gandhianism starts with the famous line – ‘ Simple living and high thinking’. “This itself is also suggestive of the fact that thoughts of an individual have a great role in shaping his or her life. That’s why Gandhianism appears to be simple to everyone but in real sense practicing it in day-to-day life is difficult. For instance, remaining truthful, tolerant, non-violent and respecting others require a great degree commitment,” they opined.

The speakers said truth, one of the core values of Gandhian philosophy, has been given a special importance by Gandhiji as he himself tried to remain truthful throughout his life. “The autobiography of this great saint – ‘ My experiments with Truth’ testimonies the love of Gandhiji for truth. Gandhian view of truth was irreversible in different contexts irrespective of the urgency of the situation. This was why in the mid of non-cooperation movement Gandhiji called off the movement after the satyagrahis deviated from the path of truth and violent incident of Chaurichaura took place,” said Associate Professor, Hilal Uddin Laskar in his keynote address.

Associate Professor Devadutta Chakravarty said a vital component of Gandhianism is non-violence, a great weapon used by him during the freedom movement against British imperialism. “In a world marred by violence and scourge of terrorism, there is a significant requirement of Gandhian idea of non-violence more than ever before,” said Chakrabarty.

Associate Professor Dr.Abdul Mannan Mazumder said Gandhiji used to respect all religions and the secular ideologies of Gandhiji are not only enshrined in the Indian constitution but also in Indian ethos as a core value system. “Gandhianism was tolerant towards all religions and the world today needs more and more religiously and faith wise tolerant people in societies where violence is committed in the name of religion. Tolerance in the society will help in neutralising the ethnocentric bias in the globe that is taking place day-by-day on the basis of religion, caste, ethnicity and region,” quipped Dr.Mannan.

Quoting Gandhiji ‘Earth has enough for human needs, but not for human greed’s’, Dr.Mazumder said these lines of Gandhi reflect upon how human behaviour destroys nature and how a sustainable way of living is the need of the hour. Assistant Professor Dr. Dipanjona Purkayastha said Gandhian idea of decentralization of power can be implemented in democracies through empowered local self governments at grassroot level.

Dr. Purkayastha said Gandhiji was against the caste system which is still a taboo in India and that Gandhian philosophy is useful to create a casteless society where everyone is treated equally irrespective of their caste.
She said Gandhiji was giving great emphasis upon cleanliness or Swacchta. “This cleanliness drive is more than physical cleanliness as Gandhiji used to emphasize upon the internal cleanliness of the individual,” Dr. Purkayastha added. Dr. Purkayastha said Gandhiji had highest respect for women and dream of a safe country necessities safety for women and that will come from the virtue of self control.

In ethical and behavioural part, Gandhianism has much significance today because society is witnessing the degradation of values, said Assistant Professor Dr. Yagneswar Deb. “Gandhian virtues of self control is much needed in a materialistic world driven by the desire to achieve and acquire more,” said Dr. Deb.

Noted journalist Satananda Bhattacharjee said Gandhiji and Gandhianism are always more than what we know. Narrating on economic theories of Gandhi, Bhattacharjee emphasised on development of small and cottage industries through locally available resources for an Atmanirbhar Bharat. He called for total prohibition to reduce crime and domestic violence as Gandhi wanted prohibition. The almost three-hour long webinar that evoked a good response was ably moderated by Shankar Choudhury with Lower Division Assistant, Rajib Bezbaruah assisting him.