Build coalition of conscience: Sonia | Latest News India - Hindustan Times
close_game
close_game

Build coalition of conscience: Sonia

None | BySaroj Nagi and Anil Anand, New Delhi
Jan 30, 2007 03:24 AM IST

Sonia makes the plea at the opening of Satyagraha centenary celebrations, report Saroj Nagi & Anil Anand.

Congress chief Sonia Gandhi on Monday gave a call to use Gandhian philosophy to get like-minded forces to build a “coalition of conscience” and a “global compact” to address contemporary concerns of violence, poverty and globalisation and pave the way for non-violence, peace and harmony. If she set the mood at the Satyagraha Centenary Conference attended by 400-odd delegates from 90 countries, former Zambian president Kenneth Kaunda gave a political tone to it.

HT Image
HT Image

Kaunda appealed to the US, UK and their allies to stop the war in Iraq, urged terrorists to shed violence and sought a peaceful solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. “The relaunching of satyagraha provides an opportunity to tell warmongers enough is enough. Stop the wars; start talking,” said Kaunda. If there has to be a war, it should be against poverty, hunger, ignorance, AIDS, he told the two-day conference on ‘Peace, Non-violence and Empowerment: Gandhian Philosophy in the 21st century’.

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

Others like Mohammad Yunus of Bangladesh, Nasser al Kidwa of Palestine, Mahatma’s grand-daughter Ela Gandhi, former Polish president Lech Walesa and Pranab Mukherjee expressed similar sentiments. Walesa said Gandhi belonged not just to India and South Africa but to the world.

Conference spokesman Devendra Dwivedi was asked if Kaunda’s outpourings had embarrassed the Congress, which is building ties with Israel and the US. “Because of some comments, our relations will not be affected,” he said.

Sonia’s speech was no less political than Kaunda’s. She did not mention the Congress’s aam aadmi slogan but said the Mahatma had ushered in the age of the common man and everything he had done was open to scrutiny. “No freedom of information Act was needed to shed light on his motives.”

She outlined the four issues being debated in their Gandhian context — conflict resolution and peace building; poverty eradication and people’s empowerment, dialogue among peoples and cultures and towards a nuclear weapons-free word order. “The task before us is to launch an organised mass movement... Let the world know there are men and women...who are determined to propagate Gandhian values.” She added: “He (Mahatma) did not provide us with final answers. He wanted us to make our own experiments with truth.”

Email Saroj Nagi: snagi@hindustantimes.com
Email Anil Anand: aanand@hindustantimes.com

Unveiling Elections 2024: The Big Picture', a fresh segment in HT's talk show 'The Interview with Kumkum Chadha', where leaders across the political spectrum discuss the upcoming general elections. Watch now!

Get Current Updates on India News, Election 2024, Arvind Kejriwal News Live, Bihar Board 10th Result 2024 Live along with Latest News and Top Headlines from India and around the world.
SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Share this article
SHARE
Story Saved
Live Score
OPEN APP
Saved Articles
Following
My Reads
Sign out
New Delhi 0C
Thursday, March 28, 2024
Start 14 Days Free Trial Subscribe Now
Follow Us On