Message on the occasion of the celebration of Mahatma Gandhi´s
140th birth anniversary

Hon'ble Mayor of the District of Lince, Mr. Pramod Mittal, Vice-President of the India-Peru Friendship Association, distinguished guests, dear colleagues and their families from the Embassy, ladies and gentlemen, amigos todos.

At the outset, I would like to thank the kind gesture, which of course is being done every year, by the Municipality of Lince, of organizing the celebration of Mahatma Gandhi´s 140th birth anniversary in such a nice way. It is with a deep sense of privilege that I am conveying this message to you. I would like to thank the organizers for inviting me for this historic occasion.

The present time is an important landmark in India's history.  The event is taking place in the 6th decade of India's freedom and democracy whose principal architect was Mahatma Gandhi. To honor one of India's greatest sons is really a matter of great pride for any Indian and to have this honour bestowed by one of India´s friendly countries such as Peru is an added privilege.

By his work and sacrifice, Mahatma Gandhi left his stamp on people living in different parts of the globe. His actions and influence succeeded in transcending the barriers that we tend so often to create to divide ourselves.  Equally important is the fact that he believed in active reform to eradicate from society the ills of injustice and discrimination, but at the same time pursued dynamic programs of change through peaceful and non-violent means.

As is well known, Gandhi first encountered injustice and discrimination in South Africa.  He was faced with a number of fundamental questions concerning issues which plagued society all over the world, particularly in the way to mobilize the frustration and anger felt by the oppressed into positive channels without embarking on the path of violence and use of force.  In searching for solutions, Gandhi drew heavily on the thought and writings of great men all over the world.  Besides the Hindu scriptures, which he knew, and other religious texts, which he studied, he also recognized the strength of ideas of such people as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau and Leo Tolstoy.  His movement of civil disobedience and non-violent protests are often mistakenly referred to as passive resistance.  Gandhi did not like the word passive, and clarified that resistance and protest can be effective without being violent.  Gandhi in fact used the word Satyagraha, or Truth-Force, to describe his movement.  He said Satyagraha is not a method for cowards.  His approach was based on the strength of ideas and principles with due emphasis on the importance of means.  It is for this reason that it found acceptance among people all over the world including the colonial powers.

The practice of these principles on a large scale with some success at first in South Africa and with much greater success later in the Indian sub-continent provided a vastly superior alternative to the oppressed people thirsting for justice and freedom from domination and discrimination.  It is for this reason that Gandhi and Gandhian thought has obtained response and respect from great leaders and people around the world, particularly those who have led struggles to secure justice, self-respect and dignity for their people.  The galaxy of such leaders includes His Holiness the Dalai Lama of Tibet, President Nelson Mandela of South Africa, the late Mr. Aquino of the Philippines, Lech Walesa of Poland and Aung San Sun Kyi of Myanmar and Martin Luther King Jr. of USA.  For Gandhi, love was a potent instrument for social and collective transformation. 

The words and actions of Gandhi actually reveal how the cycle of ideas generated in different parts of the world came together in a full circle.  Gandhi who had his own insights into the religious text of the East had drawn deeply from Western thought contained in the writings of Tolstoy, Emerson and Thoreau. Earlier, these Western thinkers had themselves assimilated the essence of the sayings contained in the Bhagavad-Gita and Upanishads.  It is clear that the thought and movement developed by Gandhi comprises the blend of Eastern wisdom and the Western thought. 

People had argued at first that non-violence was not appropriate for settling issues between nations, but only amongst individuals or small groups of people.  On this point Mahatma Gandhi wrote, "It is blasphemy to say that non-violence can be practiced by individuals and never by nations which are composed of individuals". The Gandhian approach was not confined merely to the winning of freedom, but also the use to which that freedom was to be put.  At the heart of his philosophy was respect for the individual - his dignity and liberty. 

I believe that today's ceremony is an important one.  This symbolizes in fact the best that bind us together the people living in the democracies of Peru and of India.  As the Charge d´Affaires of India, I feel the greatest pleasure to have had the opportunity to be invited for this occasion and to recall the worth and richness of the legacy bequeathed to us by this great man.  His thought and ideas have certain universality in the conduct of human affairs and a relevance that is both enduring and permanent.

To conclude, I can do no better than quote Rev. Martin Luther King when he said, "If humanity is to progress, Gandhi is inescapable.  He lived, thought and acted, inspired by the vision of humanity evolving toward a world of peace and harmony.  We may ignore him at our own risk". I wish to thank once again the Mayor of Lince and his team at the Municipality for having organized this event in coordination with the Embassy. I also wish to thank all those who have directly or indirectly helped in the organization of this event, and all those present here as those who respect the great ideals of the Mahatma.

            Thank you. Viva Peru. Viva India. Viva la amistad Peru-India.
Viva los ideales de Mahatma Gandhi.