One cannot escape politics: Dr Ramjee (Herald)

October 6, 2013 TEAM HERALD PANJIM: Noted Gandhian scholar and activist Dr Ramjee Singh highlighted the impact politics has had on the country with its effects felt on the education sector. Speaking at the Festival of Gandhian Ideas inaugurated at Don Bosco, Panjim, the fragile yet enthusiastic 90-year-old, talked at length of Gandhiji’s view on morality in public life citing references of his own personal experience with the Father of the Nation. “The private and public life should be one. Public life has become filthy today. The new civilization should bridge the gap between the public and private life,” said Singh who calls himself a teacher and who is also the Vice Chancellor of the Jain Vishva Bharathi University. Singh who was also part of the freedom movement of India in 1942 under Gandhi’s leadership and served as a Member of Parliament pointed to how even the Supreme Court was politicised. “If Gandhi were here today he would have fought corruption. We have not understood the Gandhian theory properly. 131 members of Parliament today have criminal records while some have amassed wealth of more than Rs 1,800 crore. Where has all this come from? One cannot escape from politics. We are all tied to it. Even the Supreme Court is tied with politics. But we must try and understand the right meaning of politics. Gandhiji’s standard of politics has to be reviewed.” “Power, wisdom and wealth are the three faces of modern civilization. There is no civilization of Christianity, no Islamic civilization, there is only the civilization of knowledge,” but it is here too, he says, that politics has its grip. Education in North India is corrupt; he added questioning the sense in charging students as much as Rs 5 lakh to impart knowledge. “The caste system is the number one enemy of public life. The evil of untouchability has not gone yet. There are wars being waged in the name of religion in the country. And communal violence too (raising its ugly head). Religion is compassion, martyrdom and love. There should be no place for duplicity. The concept of religion must be reviewed and reconstructed,” he said. Inaugurating the event was Archbishop of Goa and Daman, Filipe Neri Ferrão who speaking at the event emphasized on the need to revive the message of Gandhi in today’s world. “Gandhi belongs to all Indians. Rediscovering the richness of Gandhi for the country at large will help change the situation we are currently in. Mahatma Gandhi has not founded any religion. But as a teacher, a philosopher and a prophet makes him transcend the boundaries of his religious traditions and places him among the greatest men who helped change the world,” said the Archbishop. The festival of Gandhian Ideas, a first of its kind will feature a series of lectures that will be organised every Saturday till November 9. Organised by the Council for Justice and Peace of the Archdiocese of Goa and Daman in association with the Peaceful Society of Goa, the lectures will have speakers talk on various aspects of Gandhi’s ideas from education to business and trade. Part of the line up for the festival include former Indian diplomat turned politician Mani Shankar Aiyar who will speak on Gandhi’s views on Panchayati Raj. Sudarshan Iyenger, Dr Tridip Suhrud and Dr Arun Kumar are some of the others that will deliver lectures on Gandhian ideas. http://www.oheraldo.in/News/Local%20News/One-cannot-escape-politics-Dr-Ramjee/80305.html