SHILLONG: The Department of Philosophy at Lady Keane College has set up the Mahatma Gandhi Centre for Conflict Resolution and Peace Studies, which was inaugurated on Tuesday by Mrinal Miri, former Vice-Chancellor of North Eastern Hill University (NEHU), Shillong.
Speaking on the occasion as the Chief Guest, Miri, who is also a former Rajya Sabha MP, said, “Peace is difficult to explain. However, peace can be absence of dissatisfaction, conflict or tension as these are endemic to human life.”
He added that an individual’s life is driven by the desire that promotes self-interest and said it was uncommon nowadays to find virtuous individuals as self-deception and deception is prevalent worldwide.
Commenting on peace between nations, he said, “What gives rise to conflicts between nations? It is the desire to dominate the political, economic and cultural aspects of a nation. Conflict is endemic to human life and we need more research on this issue as we all want to lead a normal life,” he added.
Miri stated that the centre would study self-deception of individuals, dynamics of self-interest and self-preservation of any nation with a need to curb the desires of political, economic and cultural domination. “Most importantly the Centre should study the idea of Satyagraha propagated by Mahatma Gandhi, which is a powerful idea,” he added.
Saji Vargheese, faculty member of the department of Philosophy, stated that the objective of setting up the study centre is to empower the youth of the region, which has suffered from ethnic conflicts and violence of other kinds.
“Peace has to evolve from within. We need to analyse, resolve and emerge. Peace initiatives have to be taken up leading to mutual understanding,” he added.
