The Nehru Centre and The High Commission of India, London celebrated Mahatma Gandhi & the UK in the virtual event on October 2nd, for 150 years of celebrating the Mahatma. The key speakers included: H.E. Smt. Gaitri I Kumar, High Commissioner of India to the UK, Lord Meghnad Desai, Chair, Gandhi Statue Memorial Trust, Lord Rami Ranger, CBE, Baron of Mayfair, Prof. Satish Kumar, Eminent Gandhian Scholar, Shri CB Patel, Chairman, The India League and Shri Amish Tripathi, Director, The Nehru Centre. The event was moderated by Smt. Raageshwari Loomba Swaroop, Author and Motivational Speaker.
Opening the virtual event, the High Commissioner Smt. Gaitri Kumar described that he lived in the most violent century that mankind has known. Gandhi’s example inspired the statesmen and leaders of the caliber of Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, the Dalai Lama and Aung San Suu Kyi. Smt. Kumar also said that, “His book Hind Swaraj became a manifesto on sustainable development. At that time we found his prognosis gloomy, because according to him, urban industrialisation carried the seeds of its own destruction, but today we realise that each word had a ring of truth. His simple motto continues to inspire which is “one must care about the world that one will not see”.”
Taking the event forward, Lord Rami Ranger said, “I shudder to think what would have been the future of 1.3bn of us, if it wasn’t for the vision and commitment of Gandhi Ji. He believed that if people become violent, they will remain violent even after the objectives are met. I was very proud to have donated £100,000 towards the statue of Mahatma Gandhi, right in front of the British Parliament, because he defied what was being produced in that parliament against India, and prevailed.”
CB Patel, Chairman, The India League furthered the session and said, “GandhiJi always made virtue out of necessity. The man has gone, but the message is universal and omnipresent. Today, India is different from what India was when GandhiJi was born in 1869 or when GandhiJi was assassinated in 1948. GandhiJi gave voice to the voiceless, not only untouchables or tribals, but also the women of India. I’m glad that the present government is also giving importance to naari shakti’s evolution.”
Speaking in reference to Mahatma Gandhi’s statue in London, Lord Meghnad Desai said, “The vegetarians whom he befriended among the English gave him confidence that his vegetarianism was a good thing. He learned to agitate and to lobby. He acquired the knowledge of the Bhagvad Geeta while he was in London, through his English friends. He said once that if he was locked fighting for India’s independence, he would love to live in London forever. On the 151th anniversary of his birth, let us remember that London meant a lot to Gandhi Ji.”
Amish Tripathi, Director, The Nehru Centre and renowned author took the viewers through a virtual tour of photographs of Mahatma Gandhi from his birth till 1948. These photographs were sourced from Shri Pramod Kapoor’s book by Roli Books. Tripathi said, “He’s (Gandhi’s) one of the most analysed figures in human history. There’s so much that we can learn from him, but it’s not that we have to agree with him on everything. For example his views on machinery: I think it’s good, it improves productivity. Someone who sits on the other side is not necessarily evil. It doesn’t mean that you have to be a doormat and get rolled over. There’s some good in our enemies and some room for improvement in ourselves as well,” he added.
“Mahatma Gandhi is my hero,” Prof. Satish Kumar, Eminent Gandhian Scholar said. Describing his main message - Sarvodaya, upliftment of all, the professor said, “Mahatma Gandhi said that we have to be the change that we want to see in the world. We have to radiate nonviolence like a radiator radiates heat. Be nonviolent to yourself, and be kind to yourself, forgive yourself and drop all the past regrets, guilt and the burden of hate, anger and fear,” he added.
