NEW DELHI : Congress president Sonia Gandhi today described the ideals of secularism as an ‘article of faith’ for India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, saying his belief that only parliamentary democracy and a secular state could hold a multi-religious and multi-lingual country like India together has been proved.
“In a multi-ethnic, multi-religious, multi-linguistic and multi-regional society, Nehru’s belief that only Parliamentary democracy and a secular state could hold the country together has been proved right.
“Secularism — a state neutral in matters of religion, respecting all faiths equally — was an article of faith for Pt Nehru. There could be no Indianness, no India without secularism. Secularism was, and remains, more than an ideal, a compelling necessity for a country as diverse as India,” Ms Gandhi said in her inaugural address at the International Conference convened by the Congress to commemorate the 125th birth anniversary of Pt Nehru here.
Expressing concern that the ‘whisper of knowledge about Pt Nehru’s life and work’ has faded in recent years in India, Ms Gandhi said the ideas that he promoted and the values for which he stood remain all the more relevant. In this context, she said the conference has been convened to commemorate his birth anniversary and to reflect on some aspects of his legacy half a century after his passing. “This is an appropriate moment in time to revisit the life, contribution of one of the greatest Indians that has ever lived. Not only is it a commemoration of his 125th birth anniversary, it is an opportunity to reassert the relevance, durability and indispensability of his legacy,” Ms Gandhi added. The inaugural session was also addressed by former Afghanistan president Hamid Karzai, former Ghana president John Kufour, Queen mother of Bhutan Dorji Wangmo Wangchuk and former Nepal Prime Minister Sher Bashadur Deuba.
The conference will also discuss Pt Nehru’s views on social inclusion and democratic empowerment in India and in the contemporary global order.
While eminent leaders, Nobel laureates, thinkers, philosophers, representative leadership delegations of major political parties and civil society organisations working for peace and development are attending the conference, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not been invited.
Describing Pt Nehru as ‘one of the towering figures of the 20th century who left his mark on India and the world’, Ms Gandhi said, “He was a man of many parts, a synthesis of the best of the East and the West; a man of ideas and a man of action; an man of letters who interpreted India both to itself and to the world, and interpreted the world to India; an ardent nationalist who was also a fervent internationalist, a visionary who decisively altered India’s trajectory.
“He was once compared to a sculptor, called upon to work on a massive block of granite encompassing one sixth of the human race. Out of that block of granite, Pt Nehru built a state, a nation and a democracy. He did so against the most daunting odds. Nehru brought reassurance, stability and hope to a country in crisis and put it firmly on the path of progress and modernity.” She said India’s democracy, which we take for granted today, was Nehru’s greatest achievement and most enduring legacy. “Long before Independence, Nehru had articulated adult suffrage, fundamental rights and a secular state as the bedrock of the democracy he would go on to build in a free India, defying conventional wisdom that democracy would not succeed in conditions of mass poverty and illiteracy. “Pt Nehru’s inspiring leadership nourished India’s democracy in its crucial formative years and helped it to take deep root. He nurtured democracy as a mother nurtures her child. Democracy was to him a value to be cherished in itself. He recognised that it was the only way to build sound foundations for a modern economy that would be inclusive and participatory,” Ms Gandhi said.
Noting that Nehru’s achievements continued to bear fruit, Ms Gandhi said, “He moulded a new intellectual outlook, a new social sensibility, a new sense of Indianness, a new belief in India’s possibilities. He put the country on the path to modernisation, industrialisation, social reform and planned economic development with a strong emphasis on science and technology.”
Calling upon the modern generation to ensure that the solid national foundations that Nehru helped build are strengthened , she said, “I hope that this conference would help fulfill this objective.”
Congress leader Anand Sharma is the secretary general of the conference while Mani Shankar Aiyar is the Rapporteur General and Mukul Wasnik is the Secretary. The conference will have a nine-member delegation from the Congress, led by party vice president Sonia Gandhi.
Eminent world leaders and participating delegates started arriving for the conference last evening. The world leaders who have already arrived include former Afghanistan president Hamid Karzai, former Ghana president John Kufour, former Nepal Prime Minister Sher Bashadur Deuba, Queen mother of Bhutan Dorji Wangmo Wangchuk, former Prime Minister of Nepal Madhav K Nepal, Human Rights activist of Pakistan Asma Jahangir and many others.
(AGENCIES)
Follow our WhatsApp channel