Inaugurating an international conference on Gandhian philosophy, Congress president Sonia Gandhi today called for “exploring what Mahatma Gandhi might say and do today.” She said the conference was an attempt by her party to “reach out to like-minded individuals and institutions in different parts of the world.” “Congress is humbled by the response that the conference has evoked,” she said. Leaders from 90 countries are participating in the two-day conference to commemorate the centenary year of the Mahatma launching satyagraha that later evolved as a unique form of political protest. “It is not a question of going back to Mahatma Gandhi as much as it is of going forward with him,” she said. While Sonia called for universal nuclear disarmament, former Zambian president Kenneth Kaunda called upon the US and the UK to stop the ongoing war in Iraq. Kaunda described the unresolved Palestine question as the root of West Asia conflict. “Bush, Blair and allies must stop the war. The UK and the US are much less secure today than before the war. No one with sensitivity and humanity can watch the senseless destruction,” Kaunda said. Micro-credit proponent Mohammad Yunus of Bangladesh, Poland’s Solidarity leader Lech Walesa, Palestinian leader Nasser Al Kidwa and granddaughter of the Mahatma Ela Gandhi were other speakers at the inaugural session. Walesa said several violent movements against Communism had failed before the Solidarity became successful after it discovered Gandhism. “By following Gandhian methods of peaceful protests and non-cooperation we overcame the division between Communists and anti-Communists. However, as soon as we overcome one division another one crops up. There are new challenges and divisions created by globalisation. Gandhian philosophy can offer solution,” Walesa said. Sonia said the Gandhian concept of sarvodaya — uplift of all — was essential today when large number of people were unable to participate in economic growth. “To be equitable, economic growth has to be sustainable. To be sustainable, economic growth has, in turn, to be all inclusive,” the UPA chairperson said. She noted that nationalism was “stoking prejudice with horrifying consequences” in different parts of the world. “Sometimes, I just feel that if we were to rewrite history textbooks together, nations that confront each other could reduce distrust, setting the stage for reconciliation,” Sonia said. She said understanding the root cause of violence was necessary, but violence must not be rationalised or romanticised.Yunus, who won the Nobel for his Gramin Bank movement in Bangladesh, said there was a “financial apartheid” in existence, in which two-thirds of the population had no access to credit. “This is one illustration of institutional deficiencies that keep the poor as poor,” he said.Prime minister Manmohan Singh will be the chief guest at the concluding session tomorrow.
