Relevance of Mahatma Gandhi’s thoughts in present day

Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi was born on 2 October 1869 in Porbandar, Gujarat. He played an important role in India’s independence movement. Mahatma Gandhi was shot dead by Nathuram Godse on January 30, 1948. His death anniversary is celebrated as Martyr’s Day. Mahatma Gandhi, who sharpened the edge of the movement by following the path of truth and non-violence during the Indian freedom struggle, does not need any introduction. He had dreamed of Ramrajya for independent India. He used to say that we have given the name of non-violence to moral and social upliftment.

The best way to pay tribute to Gandhiji is that the whole world takes a pledge that we will refrain from any kind of violence. Today, there is no greater weapon and weapon than non-violence to make the world better. Equality, friendship and brotherhood can be established all over the world only with the ideas of non-violence. This consciousness has been achieved by the human society after a long struggle. Although it has been accepted all over the world that non-violence is a better option for human society, now it is necessary that this thing should be implemented practically all over the world.

As the world is changing, Mahatma Gandhi is becoming more and more relevant. Swachh Bharat Abhiyan has also been started to fulfill Gandhiji’s dream of clean India. Many of Gandhiji’s principles are relevant not only in India, but in the whole world, such as understanding and respecting each other’s religion, making such an economic policy, which develops everyone, and does the least harm to nature, and courtesy and respect in behavior. There should be transparency in the works related to the public. All these principles are most relevant today. Statues of Mahatma Gandhi have been installed in many countries around the world. Books written on Gandhi have been translated into many foreign languages. The great scientist, Albert Einstein had said that the generations to come would not believe that even a person like Gandhiji had ever taken birth on this earth. His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the Buddhist religious leader of Tibetans, says that the life of Mahatma Gandhi is ideal. Many big leaders of the present world are influenced by his principles and talk about non-violence. Non-violence and religious tolerance are the two treasures of India.

The thoughts of Mahatma Gandhi are as relevant today as they were earlier. Gandhiji’s social and political thoughts, Sarvodaya, Satyagraha, Khadi, village industry, women’s education, untouchability, self-reliance and other social consciousness are the main areas of research and teaching of today’s youth. Gandhiji has always inspired the youth to uplift the downtrodden groups. He has always been against personal hatred. His statement was – while loving the devil, one has to hate the devil. He has always asked the youth to avoid self-praise. Gandhiji is a Management Guru for the youth of today. He has always been in favor of economic strength. The centerpiece of their economy was the village. According to him, until the youth of the village do not get employment in the village itself, there will be dissatisfaction and unrest among them. Migration of rural unemployed to the city, this problem can be resolved only by setting up cottage industries. The entire human race so far has been striving for peace at individual, social, ethnic, national and international levels. According to Gandhiji, the attainment of peace should be the emotional and practical goal of every youth, only then his energy, dynamism and enthusiasm would be devoted to the national interest. Gandhiji’s socio-economic system is based on compassion, love, morality, and divine spirit. He made the upliftment of the poor the goal of his life, considering Narseva as Narayan Seva. He was in favor of an exploitation-free and mutually self-reliant society. He believed that without decentralization of powers, the common man cannot experience true democracy. His concept of village self-rule is also based on the decentralization of state power. He had said – The Swarajya of my dreams would be the Swarajya of the poor. There can be no place for caste-religion differences in such a state and such Swarajya will be for the welfare of all, which is a sure way to achieve it. Mahatma Gandhi is considered one of the world’s greatest political and spiritual leaders of the 20th century. He is remembered all over the world as a person of peace, love, non-violence, truth, honesty and compassion and a successful experimenter of all these, on the basis of which he united the whole country against the colonial government and got freedom for the country. Gandhiji used all the experiences of his life to liberate India. He said that a person with the highest aspirations can get everything he needs for his development in India. Gandhiji fought for freedom for almost 32 years, but he could live only 168 days in independent India. Today, in any country of the world, when a peace march is taken out or atrocities and violence are opposed or violence has to be answered with non-violence, then the whole world remembers Gandhiji on all such occasions. That is why it is not an exaggeration to say that Gandhiji’s thoughts, philosophy and principles were relevant yesterday, are still relevant today and will remain so in times to come.

• Pratyush Sharma