Excelsior Correspondent
BELGRADE, Oct 16: Speaking at a commemorative ceremony for Mahatma Gandhi organised here by the UNO Mission in Belgrade and the Indian Embassy, in distinguished presence of the Mayor of Belgrade, to mark the first-ever visit by any Minister from the Modi Government, Dr Jitendra Singh,MoS PMO with Independent Charge of Northeast, said,he was glad that he was concluding his three-day visit by paying obeisance to Mahatma Gandhi,the apostle of peace, who succeeded where others failed and with the passage of time, Gandhi’s philosophy of non-violence stands vindicated not only as a time-tested dictum, but also as an effective strategy to seek justice through non-violent means and “Ahimsa”.
Dr Jitendra Singh said,Gandhi introduced to the world an alternative philosophy of non-violence and truth at a time when more vociferous streams of thought including Marxism and Leninism were at their peak and it is no small an achievement that where all other political ideologies and philosophies failed to stand the test of time, Gandhian ideology continues to become more and more relevant with each passing day.
He also mentioned how PM Narendra Modi had carried Gandhi’s message of cleanliness to every nook and corner through “Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan”.
In today’s context of world-wide menace of terrorism, Dr Jitendra Singh reminded that Gandhi always said, non-violence could never be a virtue of the weak or the meek. One can justify practice of non-violence only when one has all the weapons, ammunition and strength to attack the adversary, but does not do so simply because of conviction and belief in non-violence. At the same time, however, he added, non-violence does not mean cowardice or succumbing to sense-less violence and terrorism.
Congratulating the people of Belgrade for having raised a bust of Gandhi and named a street after him, Dr Jitendra Singh said, he felt privileged to come from the land of Gandhi, but the truth is that Gandhi did not belong to any particular land or country. Gandhi belonged to the whole world, the whole universe and, in fact, the whole mankind, he observed.
Dr Jitendra Singh said, a distinct feature about Gandhi was that he was not born as a saint or a priest, but he was born like any other ordinary boy in a reasonably well-to-do family and grew up like any other common aspiring youth. But, what is noteworthy is that Gandhi, as a human being, evolved each day of his life, he said. For example, he said, Gandhi was professionally toiling to become a top legal Advocate in South Africa when a single incident of his being thrown out from a first class railway compartment changed the entire course of his life.
Gandhi’s strength and ability to rally people around him, Dr Jitendra Singh said, came from his absolutely transparent honesty and his virtue of truth. The problem with most of us, he said, is that we keep constantly lying to each other and finally we begin to believe our own falsehood.
Dr Jitendra Singh said, Mahatma Gandhi gave the whole world an effective weapon of non-violence to fight against injustice, apartheid and discrimination. When Gandhi would go on Satyagraha (fast), he would not pick up any weapon, but whole of India would come out on streets to protest against the British Empire.
Deputy Mayor of Belgrade Andreja Mladenovic and UN Resident in Belgrade Irena Vojackova-Sollorano also spoke on the occasion. The event was marked by paying of floral tributes at the bust of Mahatma Gandhi at the Mahatma Gandhi Street. Among those present were Prof. Aleksandar Petrovic, Indian Ambassador Narinder Chauhan and large number of distinguished citizens.
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