The 33rd Annual Conference of Indian Society of Gandhian Studies (ISGS) was concluded at IGNOU, Delhi, at the end of October. It was the second that I attended together with the 30th at Latur in 2007. It was a great success, with a large attendance, and with comfortable Delhi weather. I am grateful to the organizers. I met old friends and made new ones. It was pleasant to see many younger people moving around among the veteran scholars/workers.
The standard of the discussion was also high. But it was pointed out at the Valedictory that there was too much quoting from Gandhi. Also there was not much based on actual practice except a few papers inviting the participants to come to see their village work. And Gandhi was not going back to a museum. What should be the task of Gandhi studies in the present time, then? It would be to put his ideas into concrete formulations for (1)alleviating poverty, and (2)creating peace. But who was Gandhi? What did he dedicate his life for? Opinions may differ. I believe he was a man who tried to build a civil society in India. Was he not anti-modern, then? No, in my view that is a great misunderstanding about him.
No comments:
Post a Comment