The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh after Garlanding Khadi Mala on the Portrait of Mahatma Gandhi on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti and International Day of Non- Violence, in New Delhi on October 02, 2007.
The Union Minister of Tourism and Culture, Smt. Ambika Soni is also seen.
Gandhiji had abiding regard for the dignity of labour. He showed the meek the power they could conjure up from within themselves and all it needs is the courage to silently but surely keep faith and act with courage and with purpose. Gandhiji gave practical shape to his beliefs in a given historical and social context. Be it in England, be it in South Africa, be it in India – he applied his ideas to concrete situations. He endeavoured to make a practical difference to the lives of ordinary people.
Let us not forget that Gandhiji was not some lofty saint. He was also a great political leader. He was regarded as a Mahatma because he practiced what he preached. Because he cared for the poorest of the poor, the weakest of the weak.Gandhiji’s saintliness was a manifestation of his materialism. That is, his deep concern for the material conditions of the poor and under-privileged. It was his yearning and his determination to alter the material world he confronted that made him appear saintly to his followers. In that sense, Gandhiji was a true karma yogi.
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Swami Vivekananda called it Narayana Seva. The service of God, Narayana, through the service of man, Nara. This, he said, involves ‘seeing God and serving him in all human beings, the living and moving temples of God.’
Swamiji asked ‘Where shall we go to seek for God? Are not all the poor, the miserable, the weak, gods? Why not worship them first?’ Gandhiji translated this beautiful thought into what he called Daridra Narayana Seva. The service of the poorest of the poor.
This, and the idea of communal harmony and non-violence, are the central ideas of Gandhiji that continue to have great relevance even for our present troubled age. I hope on this day the world community will re-discover the relevance of the eternal message of the Mahatma for all humanity.
As long as there is strife and injustice, as long as there is inequality and indignity in the human condition, as long as there is pain and suffering, as long as there is violence and hatred, the ideas and ideals of Mahatma Gandhi will resonate and find followers everywhere.
The greatest scientist of the 20th Century, Albert Einstein, said of Gandhiji, ‘Generations to come will scarce believe that such a one as this ever in flesh and blood walked upon this earth.’ The fact that the international community has today come to observe this day as the International Day of Non-Violence, in memory of Mahatma Gandhi, should ensure that generations to come would never forget the eternal message of the Mahatma.”
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