NINTH MILE, (RI BHOI ): The Meghalaya Governor Tathagata Roy has inaugurated the international conference on “Mahatma Gandhi’s Vision and Contemporary Political Leadership in North East India” here on Friday in presence of eminent Gandhain scholars and reputed academicians from India and abroad.
Organised by the International Centre for Gandhian Studies (ICGS), a research centre of the University of Science & Technology Meghalaya (USTM), the two-day conference is being participated by more than hundred scholars, academicians and intellectuals from different parts of the country and also from few other countries like Bangladesh, Australia, USA and Singapore.
Tushar Arun Gandhi, the great grandson of Mahatma Gandhi and Chairman of Mahatma Gandhi Foundation, Prof Sudarshan Iyengar, renowned Gandhian and former Vice Chancellor, Gujarat Vidyapith, Dr. Liaquat Ali, Vice Chancellor, Bangladesh University of Health Sciences, Dhaka, Prof. B. Khadria, Chairman, ZakirHussain Centre, JNU have addressed the conference, apart from others.
Gandhiji’s great grandson Tushar Arun Gandhi said, “Since many years, political leadership in India has been party based, instead of broad nationalistic view. Bapu’s ideals must be adopted in our nature and not simply in references. If we cannot do this, it is disrespect to him.” He said that people should not keep themselves in narrow nationalistic borders. “We should never forget his Talisman and should recall the face of the poorest and the weakest whenever we think of doing something,” he said.
Inaugurating the conference, Tathagata Roy, the Governor of Meghalaya said that Gandhiji not only gave India its freedom but also gave the world a new thought on non-violence and sustainable living. His teachings and experiments are more valid today than ever before, especially when we are trying to find solutions to worldwide greed, corruption, and violence.
Noted Gandhian Prof Sudarshan Iyengar emphasised on the concept of “servant leadership” of Mahatma Gandhi and said that when the problem was related to racial discrimination, it transcended individual level. He also said that reconciliation of unlimited wants with peace was not possible.
Papers are being presented by participants on themes like Peace and Conflict, Rural Economy, Cooperative Federalism, Social Cohesion, Cattle Protection, Industrialization, Infrastructure Development, Political Ideology, Religion and Society, Gender Issues in Society, Law and Justice, Cultural Nationalism, Media and Social Change, Ethics and Morality, Decolonization, Hind Swaraj, from Swaraj to Suraj.Dr SanjibGoswami, Adjunct Prof. USTM and co-convenor of the conference delivered the vote of thanks at the end of the inaugural session.
