SHILLONG: Meghalaya Governor Banwarilal Purohit has said India could become a world leader if people of the country tread the path laid down by spiritual leaders in the past.
Purohit was speaking at the 163rd birth anniversary of Jagatpurush Sree Narayana Guru at Sri Aurobindo Institute of Indian Culture here on Sunday.
Speaking about spiritual leader, Narayana Guru, Purohit said he did what was entrusted to him by God.
He asserted that the country would not progress owing to corruption. Purohit pointed out that Narayana Guru taught about simple living which would have been the key to prevent corruption.
Citing an example of simple living, he referred to former President A P J Abdul Kalam, and said, “When he became the President of India, he had only two suitcases, one that contained books and the other his clothes. They were the same two suitcases that he carried when he left as President.” Former Governor of Meghalaya, Ranjit S Mooshahary pointed out that there was “truthfulness deficit” in the present times as “every day we tell lies”.
“We have too many places of worship but our character has not evolved. Religion cannot reform and it will not solve any problem, but in the contrary, it is used as a tool to create conflicts and wars,” Mooshahary said.
“We should relook our approach to religion and uplift it to spirituality. Religion ends where spirituality begins,” he said.
Recalling that revered saints in India opposed the caste system and untouchability, the former Governor, however, pointed out that many conflicts based on religion, caste, faith, class were still plaguing the country despite its diversity of culture and religion.
He rued that the system of division in India still continued in certain parts of India.
“In the 16th century, we had great saints. We are proud of the past but have not been able to recreate the past,” Mooshahary said.
TP Sreenivasan, director general of Kerala International Centre, said that Narayana made fundamental changes that affected everybody in the society.
“His basic teaching was that everybody should think that he belongs to one caste, one religion and one god. Many spiritual leaders have said this but what he did was bring it to the common man, the lowest of the low caste who could not enter temples,” he told The Shillong Times.
“Spirituality for India is a 5,000-year-old tradition and it is fundamental to us but we are not conscious of it. Tolerance is what spirituality is all about,” Sreenivasan said.
“That is the great thing about India. Of course, there is spirituality elsewhere also but many of them are not as committed to spirituality as Indians are,” he said. Four Sree Narayana Guru Awards, namely, ‘Sree Narayana Guru Award for Social Service’, ‘Sree Narayana Guru Award for Education’, ‘Sree Narayana Guru Award for Entrepreneurship’ and, ‘Sree Narayana Guru Lifetime Achievement Award’ were distributed on the occasion. The second session was a panel discussion on the theme, “Role of Socio Cultural and Philanthropic organisation in societal development,” in which the panelists were RG Lyngdoh, vice chancellor of Martin Luther Christian University (MLCU), Sylvanus Lamare, principal of St Edmund’s College, Sumarbin Umdor, associate professor of Economics, NEHU and Agnes Kharshiing, president of Civil Society Women’s Organisation (CSWO).
