I feel honoured to be here with you to pay tribute to the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi on the occasion of his 140th Birth Anniversary.

This day is most dear to every Indian as on this day a great soul was born to liberate India from the colonial rule. The fire of freedom that Bapu lit moved fast and liberated countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America from servitude. He inspired millions of men and women. A few generations later, new leaders emerged in several countries including prominent ones such as Dr. Martin Luther King in the United States, Dr. Nelson Mandela in South Africa and Dalai Lama in Tibet under Gandhiji’s influence. And the process continues. No wonder in honour of this great son of India and apostle of peace and ahimsa, the United Nations has declared 2nd October as the International Day of Non-Violence.

During the freedom struggle, Bapuji taught us to move on the path of ‘ahimsa’, which he himself upheld throughout his life.

Truth or ‘Satya’ was the sovereign principle of Mahatma Gandhi’s life. His life was an eternal quest to discover truth and his journey to that end was marked by experiments and learning from his own mistakes. Fittingly, his autobiography was titled ‘My Experiments with Truth’. Gandhiji believed and practiced ahimsa in his search for truth in every walk of life.

This morning I would like to speak about the relevance of Bapu’s teachings in the context of elimination of terrorism; propagation of Information Technology among the youth; and relevance of Gandhiji for good governance.

Elimination of Terrorism
Terrorism is now truly a global phenomenon. It is lethal and cheap.

A question is often posed about the role and relevance of the military in the construction of an environment for creative dialogue among civilizations. In the post 9/11 world, it is quite obvious that the ugly face of terrorism has given full justification for a strong military posture. In fact, the rise of terrorist activities in different parts of the world demands it. It, however, does not mean that military intervention can be taken in an arbitrary fashion either within the country or among nation-states.

The popular view in Europe and the United States about Gandhiji is that of a saint or a “great soul” only. Bapu, however, was a great realist as well and taught us not to become a mute spectator in the face of violent threats.

Inaction at a time of conflagration is inexcusable, he once wrote (Harijan, April 7, 1946). He regarded cowardice as beneath contempt. Fighting if it is non-violent is “never demoralizing”, Gandhiji said, while cowardice always is.  (Young India, October 31, 1929) And perhaps Gandhiji’s most memorable statement against a tepid response: “where there is only a choice between cowardice and violence, I would advise violence.” ( Young India, August 11, 1920).

Occasionally violence does indeed seem to be the only response available. Gandhiji provided some examples. One was the mad dog. On confronting a dog with rabies, one must stop it by any means possible, including maiming or killing it ( Gandhi, Collected Works, Vol.14, pp 505). Another case that Gandhiji offered was a brutal rapist caught in the act. To do nothing in that situation, Gandhiji said, makes the observers ‘a partner in violence”. Hence violence could be used to counter it. Gandhiji thus concluded, ‘Heroic violence is less sinful than cowardly non-violence.” ( Gandhi, Collected Works, Vol. 51 pp 17). It was this belief that made him endorse military intervention in Jammu and Kashmir in 1947.

Gandhiji was adamantly opposed to the political positions that justified terrorism, but he was remarkably lenient toward the terrorists themselves. The difficulty was the ‘mad idea’, not the terrorists.

A Gandhian strategy for confronting terrorism, therefore, would consist of the following: 

     (i)Stop an act of violence in its tracks
     (ii) Address the issues behind the terrorism
     (iii) Maintain the moral high ground
     (iv) Seeing the other side’s point of view
     (v) Address the issues behind the violence
The social fabric of Sikkim is deeply rooted in the ethos of religious harmony, tolerance and non-violence. The Buddhist principle of karma finds reflection in the way of life of people of Sikkim.  They believe that violence and use of force will lead to a bad karma in their successive life therefore, the same should be avoided. However, in the face of extreme regressive situation, they believe in resorting to force in self-defence. This finds a profound consonance with the thoughts and ideas on religious harmony and non-violence propounded by Mahatma Gandhi.

Propagation of Information Technology among the youth

There are two divergent views about Mahatma Gandhi’s attitude towards ‘machines’ and ‘modernization’.

 There is a group of people who believe that Mahatma Gandhi was opposed to all machines and that he wanted us to lead the life of a villager in a romantic village of the pre-industrial era.  The protagonists of this view often refer to the concluding portion of the chapter on ‘machine’ in his well-known work Hind Swaraj. The relevant portion reads:
Don’t therefore forget the main thing.  It is necessary to realize that machinery is bad………...  If, instead of welcoming machinery as a boon, we would look upon it as an evil, it would ultimately go.

There are others who feel that observations made periodically by Mahatma Gandhi about machines need to be seen in civilizational and people’s livelihood terms.

Gandhiji had a prescience that in the relationship between man and machine, man was likely to lose. The tremendous growth of technology since Gandhiji’s time has revealed that large-scale industrialization has an unavoidable concomitant: alienation of man, which is not essentially related to the nature of the political system.

 
 At a more practical level, Gandhiji saw machinery in livelihood terms.  He held machinery responsible for deprivation of jobs of millions of Indians.   Mahatma Gandhi, however, knew that technology can make a positive contribution as well, provided its use was informed by a moral vision of the human good and not as an instrument of exploitation by the rich of the poor.  It is well-known that Gandhiji used railways, telegraphs, steamer services, automobiles and so on.  Gandhiji, who empowered millions of women and men by popularizing the spinning wheel – the charkha – was in praise of the Singer Sewing Machine for it relieved the drudgery of women.  He wrote:
Take the case of the Singer Sewing Machine.  It is one of the few useful things ever invented, and there is a romance about the device itself.  Singer saw his wife labouring over the tedious process of sewing and seaming with her own hands, and simply out of his love for her he devised the sewing machine, in order to save her from unnecessary labour.

Mahatma Gandhi could foresee that the relentless pursuit of technology growth would fuel greed and cause untold miseries. 
 
 The affluence of a small population is pushing the entire world to fight over resources, ecological destruction, alienation and conflict. Mahatma Gandhi saw a distinction between ‘production by the masses’ and ‘mass production’.

The present pursuit of exploitation of nature is unsustainable.  Gandhiji, in a now famous saying, told his secretary that the “Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s need but not for every man’s greed”.   The more consumption of natural resources, in global warming, etc. have shown the limits of growth.  Gandhiji asked for machines that empowered rather than enslaved workers, and that created rather than eliminated work.

One wonders how Bapu, were he in our midst, would have reacted to the pervasive influence of information communications technology.  To me it seems that he would have supported the mobile telephones and the Internet.  He would have appreciated the manner in which it has empowered the common people both in rural and urban areas.  Mahatma Gandhi would have insisted on making available to the people the best of skills and practices, and economic programmes that are compatible with ecology and local resources. He would have given us new light as how to cope with cyber crimes, intrusion in private lives, health hazards to users and other dehumanizing effects.  He would have liked us to find our own answers to the problems that this revolution is creating.  For Mahatma Gandhi never wanted anyone to go back to the primitive era but taught us to move forward.

As Sikkim is steadily progressing on the path of sustained economic development, my Government has realized the need to harness the full potential of our youth by providing them access to Information Communication Technology that play a vital role in helping them to be self-reliant. Our aim is to provide all possible support for training and other logistic support in the capacity building of our youth right from grass-root level.

Relevance of Gandhiji for Good Governance

The framers of the Constitution of India guided by the spirit of the freedom struggle made democracy the corner stone of our governance system. Gandhiji wanted a self-reliant village economy and also a life of dignity for everyone in the country. He instructed the governments both at the State and at the Centre to work for the welfare of the people with sincerity in order to ensure that “every tear from every eye is wiped out”.

 Good governance does not occur by chance.  It must be demanded by citizens and nourished explicitly and consciously by the nation state.  It is, therefore, necessary that the citizens are allowed to participate freely, openly and fully in the political process.  The citizens must have the right to compete for office, form political party and enjoy fundamental rights and civil liberty.  Good governance is accordingly associated with accountable political leadership, enlightened policy-making and a civil service imbued with a professional ethos.  The presence of a strong civil society including a free press and independent judiciary are pre-conditions for good governance.

Good governance must aim at expansion in social opportunities and removal of poverty. In short, good governance, as I perceive it, means securing justice, empowerment, employment and efficient delivery of services.

Inspired by Gandhian ideals, our Constitution authorized the government and Parliament to make special provision not only for the advancement of socially and educationally backward classes of citizens, for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes but also for women and children. Significant measures have been taken in this regard during the last sixty years. One such step relates to reservation of seats for women in local bodies.

Today India has 3.3 million elected representatives in Panchayats in nearly half a million villages out of whom over one million are women. Assuming that for every elected office in the village Panchayat system there are 3 contenders, we have over 10 million stakeholders of democracy – an arrangement that secures democratic continuation in India. Direct elections have also brought into the village national life and consciousness about strengths of democracy and the need for democratic behaviour in terms of the Constitution of India. The print and electronic media in particular have strengthened this process.

The strengthening of the Panchayati Raj institutions has been consistently the core consideration in the planning process in Sikkim.

I am glad that my Government has convened a meeting of Gram Sabha in every village today to discuss their problems in the light of Bapu’s vision of “Gram Swaraj’.

 The instruments of the State and the civil society need to be guided by the Talisman that Mahatma Gandhi prescribed for social, political and religious leadership of independent India in August 1947.  It reads: “I will give you a talisman.  Whenever you are in doubt, or when the self becomes too much with you, apply the following test.  Recall the face of the poorest and the weakest man whom you may have seen, and ask yourself if the step you contemplate is going to be of any use to him.  Will he gain anything by it?  Will it restore him to a control over his own life and destiny?  In other words, will it lead to swaraj for the hungry and spiritually starving millions?  Then you will find your doubts and yourself melting away.”

  This is extremely relevant today as in the name of rapid economic growth policy decisions are increasingly being taken giving regard to the interest of the market and big business.  Could we reverse this process to give primacy to the principles of ‘antodaya’ without sacrificing growth?  If that happens, good governance could be better ensured.  Such governance under a sensitive leadership could provide capacity to build our inclusive polity and a future full of possibilities for everyone.

On this solemn day, let us dedicate ourselves to serve the people and particularly the poor and the needy.

 Jai Hind.